Lagos residents lament over 5-month power outage despite N15m transformer donation

Residents of an Estate identified as Love Estate in the Ikorodu-Elepe area of Lagos state have lamented over the current power outage, living in darkness as Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company(IKEDC) is yet to respond to their plight five months after the transformer serving the area broke down.

According to the residents of the area, the extended lack of power has left them open to attacks by robbers who work in the dark.

They added that their businesses and other electrically dependent operations have been grounded as a result of the circumstance.

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Speaking to reporters, some residents claimed that even though the community had given IKEDC a N15 million transformer in exchange for the return of the faulty one, two months later it had not been turned on.

A resident, identified as Emmanuel Ayanda, said the five-month power outage has caused increase in robbery, saying, “as we know, when there is no light, it is easy to perpetrate different types of crime.”

Ayanda claimed that even though the transformer donation was approved and all formalities were completed, the energy distribution company refused to switch it on and did not return the defective one.

According to him, residents have been spending a lot of money on fuel to run their generators for the past five months, but economic activities has been favourable.

“I don’t know where this country is heading. Our faulty transformer was taken away for repairs for more than four months and is yet to be returned.

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“Each household contributed N75,000 amounting to more than N15 million to purchase a new transformer and yet it has not been installed nor energised by IKEDC.

“In an ideal society, are we the ones to be running after IKEDC to return the transformer they took away or to buy a new one for them knowing fully well that they use the same transformer to generate income,” he added.

Ranti Olaniyi, another resident, expressed her disappointment with the IKEDC’s four-month-long failure to bring power back to the area.

Olaniyi claimed that the electrical provider had not responded favourably or taken any action in spite of several complaints, follow-ups, and other attempts made by the community to address the problem.

Samuel Odukoya, Head of Technical Unit, IKEDC Business Unit, Alogba, Ikorodu, was contacted however chose not to comment.

Efforts to reach Kingsley Okotie, the IKEDC’s Head of Corporate Communications, were also unsuccessful.

Residents have called on the Lagos state government to urgently step into the situation an come to their aid.