Commercial activities in Makurdi and other major towns in Benue state have been brought to a halt, following the constant power outage which has persisted for about two weeks now.

Residents of the state capital and business men have lamented the development and have therefore called on the appropriate authorities to look into the situation so as to arrest the difficulties being faced daily.

The continuous power outage has not been attributed to any activity of either vandals as is usually the case or a break down in some of the transmitting facilities of the power holding company of Nigeria (PHCN). Worst hit by this precarious situation are cold room owners, laundry and dry cleaning shops as well as hotels. Some of the affected people in this category who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday explained with bitterness how much they have lost as a result of PHCN's in ability to live up to it's task "We never thought the situation would degenerate to this level, when they first struck we thought it was the usual non steady supply, but now it has brought more difficulties to us than ever, imagine loosing one million naira worth of fish because of continuous outage, yet as soon as they restore the light they would start asking for bills" said a cold room owner Mr Okwoche Nwoke.

It was gathered that hotel fares have also sky rocketed due to the constant use of their personal generators just as usual charges for laundry and dry cleaning have been jerked up due to extra expenditure in purchasing diesel for generators.

Investigation by LEADERSHIP Sunday showed that another brisk business has cropped up in almost every part of the township metropolis as people now use small generators to charge battery for handset owners, for between 50 and 100 naira depending on how long it takes a certain battery to charge to it's maximum capacity.

Robbery has also returned as armed robbers and other night operators have taken position in strategic point which are usually dark, to prey on their victims, notable of such strategic points is the road leading to the popular plaza hotel in old GRA in Makurdi where it was gathered that the hoodlums sometimes disguise as customers before coming out to unleash terror on victims.