Residents in Maiduguri – which has been out of power since Tuesday last week − are spending a fortune on petrol to fire up their generators so that they can keep their businesses going.

But their families are having to go without food and other essentials.

Ibrahim Abubakar, a haircutter, said the power outage had affected his business badly and he had to buy petrol every day to keep going.

“I spend 1 000 naira daily on petrol and sometimes I don’t have anything to take home for my children and wives. Petrol is pricey. We heard that the power in Damaturu [a Local Government Area in Yobe State in northern Nigeria] had been restored but we in Maiduguri still do not have power.”

He called on Borno State government officials to urgently look into the problem.

Adamu Abdullahi, a tailor at Hausari, a ward of Maiduguri, said he could not work without electricity. He, too, called on the government to fix the problem.

Abdullahi said the cost of running his business had increased by 50% and that he was spending much more money than before the outage.

“I am spending half of what I get every day on petrol for the generator. I cannot increase what I charge because that will chase away my customers,” he said.

A cold drink vendor in Maiduguri said he was having a difficult time because of the power outage.

“I cannot buy ice because it is costly. So people come every day to buy cold water, Coca-Cola and other soft drinks but they are not cold because, without power, I cannot keep them chilled.”

He said he was running out of money because he could not do business as usual. He called on the Borno State government to repair the outage.

The power outage started on January 26. The management of Yola Electricity Distribution Company had apologized for the inconvenience but Maiduguri was still in darkness.