Residents of Daki Biyu, a settlement within Jabi district in the Federal Capital Territory FCT, have lamented the inability to run their businesses as a result of power outage in the past few weeks.

Some of the business owners, who spoke with our reporter, described the situation as a nightmare, adding that the issue has become a threat to their businesses.

Our reporter, who visited the community on Monday, observed that some of the business outfits like salons, restaurants, provision shops, fashion designers, pharmacies and others that rely heavily on power were under lock and key.

The community, which shares boundaries with Jabi, Wuye and Citec Villa, has four transformers located at 44 junction, Mango tree, market and white house, but have all been faulty and malfunctioning for some weeks, resulting in the present power outage.

A restaurant owner, who gave her name as Madam Favour, said she had lost a lot of customers, owing to the epileptic power supply.

She said, “It is not funny for us here, sometime, my soup spoils because of the light, if I continue buying fuel every day to run this business, honestly, I may not be able to pay my sales girls. Something urgent needs to be done, if not, you will come here one day and find out that we have shut down.”

On her part, a hair stylist, who pleaded anonymity, said the issue of the power outage was the worst that could happen to her business.

She said, “I heard that some people are doing illegal connections and by-passing, that’s why they are punishing us, but how long are we going to continue like this.”

Also speaking, a resident, Mr Uchechukwu Uwalaka, said they had been having sleepless nights since his wife gave birth last month because of the power outage resulting in excessive heat.

“I am the most affected by this issue of light, every night, my newborn will wake us up crying because of the heat, and there is no light to power our fan.

“I am pleading with the authorities concerned to come to our rescue, because this is the season we need more light,’’ he pleaded.

An official of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Jabi, who craved anonymity, attributed the power outage to faulty transformers, adding that the case had been reported at the AEDC’s headquarters.