Residents of Mayo-Belwa, a local government headquarters in Adamawa State, staged a protest on Monday over a blackout in the town which they said has lasted for 45 days.
Mayo-Belwa, the administrative headquarters of the Mayo-Belwa Local Government Area, is a prominent town in the central part of Adamawa some 70 kilometres from the state capital, Yola.
The protesting residents defied the distance on Monday and besieged the regional office of the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) in Jimeta, Yola, to demonstrate their anger.
Spokesman of the protesters, Muhammed Bako, said lack of electricity in nearly seven weeks had crippled business activities in the area.
“We’ve been sleeping and waking up in despair in the last 45 days that we’ve been left in darkness,” Mr Bako said.
The Area Manager of the YEDC, Jimeta, Engr Ismail Aliyu who addressed the Mayo-Belwa people, said the blackout in their area was caused by a breakdown of equipment, but that necessary repair was being effected.
He explained that the central transformer serving their area developed a fault and had been taken for repairs which should be concluded in a week’s time.
The YEDC manager promised residents that power would be restored to Mayo-Belwa by Tuesday next week.
