Residents of Big Qua Town in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, have decried the days of darkness occasioned by the alleged refusal of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) to fix their faulty transformer.

They alleged that the situation has caused untold hardship to residents, adding that it escalated when the PHEDC staff, tasked with rectifying the issue, demanded a huge sum of money to facilitate repairs.

The damage, they said, occurred over two weeks ago when the transformer servicing the area exploded due to an overload caused by an illegal connection made by some officials of the electricity distribution company. They said that since then, the community has been without power.

Lamenting that the area, known for its bustling commercial activities, has been severely affected, calling for immediate action on the transformer.

According to them, despite reporting the issue to PHEDC, its officials demanded a huge sum of money for repairs, a cost the residents argued they should not bear as they were not responsible for the damage.

A business owner in the area, Mr Bassey Etimi, who expressed his frustration, said: “Big Qua is known to be a commercial area, and we usually have reliable power supply. Now, we are the only ones using generators, and it costs me N25,000 daily for petrol.”

A pharmaceutical shop owner, Bassey Nkereuwem, lamented: “The lack of electricity has brought our operations to a standstill. We rely heavily on power to operate our equipment and fulfil orders. The money demanded for repairs of the transformer is exorbitant and unjustifiable.”

When contacted, the company’s spokesperson was unavailable at the time of filing this report, but a staff member who preferred anonymity described the allegation as unfounded, citing that PHEDC has a workshop for transformer repairs.

“If any staff member is extorting any customer, please report to the management of the company with evidence of such extortion,” he added.