Residents of Taraba, Gombe and Adamawa states are facing severe hardship as a result of widespread power outage, which has crippled businesses and exacerbated economic challenges in the region.

The three states, at press time, were in total darkness.
Residents from the affected states lamented that the development was making the running of businesses and households difficult.

Suleiman Dangiwa, a vulcaniser from Gombe, expressed frustration at being unable to provide for his family due to the outage, urging authorities to intervene urgently to restore power to the states.

Helen Sunday, a hairdresser, highlighted the additional burden of high fuel costs to power essential equipment during the outage, further straining small businesses already grappling with economic challenges.

Owners of small business centres in the Jalingo metropolis, who spoke with The Guardian, also aligned with their counterparts in Gombe and Adamawa. They called on the governments of the affected states to support Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) in Biu to prevent vandals from further tempering with electric installations.

The Guardian checks revealed that the power outage was caused by the activities of vandals, who targeted electric cables belonging to YEDC.

Officials of YEDC explained that vandalism led to the loss of supply to all its interface TCN stations, rendering the company incapable of serving its customers in Taraba, Gombe and Adamawa.

A senior staff of the company, who pleaded anonymity, as he claimed not to be in a position to speak for the company, said the situation underscored the urgent need for concerted efforts to address the issue of vandalism and restore power supply to the affected regions.

Unable to confirm when power would be restored to the affected states, he urged customers to be patient, as the company is working tirelessly to ensure the immediate restoration of power.