By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Fresh tragedy was averted in Kaduna State on Monday, January 20, when an electricity transformer that residents described as “consistently troubled”, and which serves Ungwan Boro area of ECWA Hausa community in Kaduna,the state capital, exploded thrice and burst into flames.
Some panic-stricken residents initially believed the loud explosions came from bombs in the volatile North-Central state capital,which had been the scene of ethno-religious fighting and bloodletting in the past.
The explosions immediately threw the community as well as the popular De Jays hotel in the area, both of which had experienced outage since the previous day, into confusion with many residents first scampering for safety before pausing later to decipher the actual cause of the heavy sounds.
Recovering from the shock, some brave youths in the community mobilized to the transformer and using mere dust, which they threw at the fire, managed to put off the inferno, saving the expensive facility from being razed down completely.
The incident occurred about 6.30pm-700 pm after power was restored to the area.
Eyewitnesses recalled that earlier on Sunday evening during an outage, some persons popularly known as NEPA 2, identified as casual staff of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KADECO), had been cited in the transformer premises fiddling with its fuse.
Residents recounted further that the work of the NEPA 2 did not stop the facility from blowing up immediately power was restored in the evening of that day.
The witnesses said that,but for divine intervention, the flak from the first explosion that Sunday may have harmed or even killed bystanders.
As of press time, the community was still in darkness with many residents slamming KADECO for inefficiency and apparent unwillingness to effect a permanent solution to the transformer problem in the area.
Contacted, Ungwan Boro Unit Manager of KADECO,who simply gave his name as Engr. Paul, denied having any NEPA 2 among his staff.
His words: “Good morning. I don’t have any NEPA 2 working with me. Maybe you should go and confirm well who went to your transformer.
“Secondly, anytime you see people in your transformer, go and see who is there and what they are doing, not sending messages you are not sure.”
Also contacted, the administrators of KADECO social media group chat, stated that “simply walk up to them (so-called NEPA 2) and introduce yourself. They are members of the community. With your level of interest in the light issue, you can liaise with the Service Center Manager and he will be more than willing to introduce you so that you are kept abreast of any development regarding your local transformer, Sir.”
