Residents of Ogunbowale, Taiwo, and Adegbola streets in the Ilasamaja area of Lagos have raised concerns over a prolonged blackout that has lasted for over a month, warning that the situation is exposing the area to burglary and economic hardship.
The residents said the transformer
serving the community had developed a fault around late March which prompted
the Ikeja Electric to pick it up for repairs.
According to them, repeated visits to
Ikeja Electric’s Okota office to know what the update on the repair was and
when it will be fixed have yielded no tangible results, as officials reportedly
continue to assure them that efforts are ongoing without providing a timeline.
A resident, Tayo Adedayo, lamented the
situation, saying, “We have been in darkness for over a month and every effort
we have made has yielded no results.”
Adebayo added that responses from the
distribution company have remained the same.
“Any time we visit the Okota office of
Ikeja Electric, the ready-made answer is ‘we are working on it’,” he said.
A trader who identified simply as
Elizabeth said the blackout has affected daily living and business activities.
She noted that the intense heat has made
it difficult to sleep, while businesses dependent on electricity have suffered
losses.
“The blackout has really affected me.
Many businesses are grounded because people need cold drinks and water, and
those of us selling them have no sales. Hairdressers, barbers, welders — they
are all running at a loss, and the fuel price hike has made it worse,” she
said.
She also warned that the prolonged
outage could heighten insecurity in the area.
Elizabeth further disclosed that the
community had written letters, sent emails, and even protested during visits by
government officials, but nothing has changed.
She said, “As for security, blackout
exposes most people’s shops and homes to theft or being burgled, especially
during the nighttime.
“I am aware that the community has
written letters and mails to the distribution company, and we even protested
when the deputy governor and local government chairman came around some time
ago.
“My appeal to the electricity
authorities is to do something fast about it because it is no longer funny and
we cannot continue folding our arms and keeping quiet. I guess it is because we
have not been given prepaid meters that is why we are being treated this way.”
Another resident, Babatunde Gabriel,
said the situation has forced residents to take extra security measures to
prevent theft of electrical infrastructure.
“We now have to watch over the IE
upriser cable from being stolen. We have reached out to Ikeja Electric
management, but they just keep promising without a specific time to restore
power,” he said.
He urged the company to treat residents
with urgency and empathy, adding, “We want them to treat us like human beings
and show a human face.”
When contacted for a reaction, the Head
of Corporate Communications at Ikeja Electric, Kingsley Okotie, appealed to
residents of the affected communities to exercise patience.
He noted that since the agency had taken
the faulty transformer for repair, it would be returned as soon as possible.
“We are not happy that potential
customers who would help the company to drive revenue are left in that
situation. Within the shortest possible time, it will be returned.
“We are appealing to them to exercise a
little bit of patience with us and we will fix it very soon,” Okotie said.
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