Residents of Garam community in Tafa local government area of Niger state have decried the lack of electricity supply which has kept them in perpetual darkness.
The residents in their numbers, including women and children, stormed their chief’s palace at the weekend to demand connection to the existing transformer in the area.
Chairman of the community, Alhaji Nurudeen Akinwale, stated that “on two occasions our transformer has been damaged and stolen and efforts made had yielded no result. We are part of Garam, we know during elections our votes also count. We demand that every other benefit coming to the community should also be extended to us.”
“All this while, we have been pacifying our wives and children about the light that things will be fine but they have lost trust and confidence in us and we have insisted that we bring them to the district head that Its been one year after the last transformer was stolen; we cannot be living here and be seeing light across the bridge, it is very traumatic,” he said.
In his response, the district head of Garam, Isaac Gimba Gayzawu, appreciated the community for their peaceful conduct, efforts and bearing with us for so long, stressing: “If I say I’m not aware of the problem it’s a lie because the two transformers that were taken away were just opposite my school.
“The last one they came to vandalise, we reported the case even to the local government and to NEPA who said it would come and take the consuming rate of this very transformer so that they will be able to know whether the voltage will be able to carry that line, and that a situation where it cannot carry it, they would bring us another one.
“So I want to assure you that I will try my best that this problem is solved, I will keep pressurising them.”
The residents said their transformers had been stolen on two occasions leaving them without electricity for four years now.
