Several communities in Enugu metropolis were thrown into darkness on Friday evening after an explosion damaged critical equipment at the Gariki Injection Substation, disrupting electricity supply to customers connected to the Army and Gariki 11kV feeders.
The incident, which occurred at about 7:30 p.m., affected the indoor 11kV breaker at the substation, resulting in an immediate power outage across multiple residential, commercial and institutional areas.
Confirming the development in a statement, the
Head of Communications at MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited, Emeka Ezeh, said the company’s engineers had commenced an assessment of the damaged equipment and were already working to restore electricity to affected customers.
Areas impacted on the Army 11kV feeder include the Army Barracks, One Day Road, Meniru, Upper Meniru and Joe Continental.
Communities served by the Gariki 11kV feeder that are experiencing the blackout include Gariki Market, Mayor Market, Roban Stores along Agbani Road, Crunchies, Mobile Police Barracks, Amechi Road, Upper Mount, Ikiriki, Emeka Ebila, Ozalla Street, Egbonnaji, Nnaji Ogbodo, Idaw River, Igbariam Street, Liberation, Mount, Umuchu, Achina, Vance, Unubi, Enugu Agidi, Amawbia, Amokwe, Kenneth, Amah and Hill Crest.
MainPower apologised to customers for the disruption, assuring residents that restoration efforts were ongoing and urging them to remain patient while engineers complete the repair works.
The latest outage comes months after the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission downgraded some of MainPower’s feeders for failing to meet the minimum daily electricity supply standards required for certain customer categories.
The company took over electricity distribution in Enugu State following the unbundling of the former Enugu Electricity Distribution Company under the state’s electricity market reforms.
