Residents of Ireakari community in Ilisan Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State, on Saturday protested the alleged refusal of officials of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company to connect their transformer to the national grid after spending over N11m on its installation.
The protesters wielded placards with inscriptions such as “Ireakari community is tired of pitch darkness,” “IBEDC, connect light to our transformer,” “Gov Dapo Abiodun, call IBEDC to order,” and “IBEDC, give us light, not crazy bills.”
They lamented that erratic power supply and frequent blackouts had paralysed business activities in the area and worsened insecurity, leading to incidents of armed robbery and other crimes.
Speaking during the protest, the Secretary of the Ireakari Community Development Association, Mr. Taiwo Idowu, said, “In the process of solving the poor power supply challenge in our community, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu donated a transformer to us in 2018.
“We invited officials of IBEDC to inspect it. They checked and certified it fit for use, so we began raising funds among ourselves for the installation.
“We bought poles, cables, and every other item required. We have spent over N11m, and when the installation was completed in June, we contacted IBEDC to connect the transformer to the grid.
“However, to our shock, they said the transformer was refurbished. We couldn’t understand because they had earlier inspected and approved it for installation.
“How can they now claim it’s refurbished and refuse to connect it? We’ve written several letters to their offices in Sagamu and Ibadan, but nothing has been done.
“Our community has suffered erratic power supply for over eight years. After using our hard-earned money to solve the problem, IBEDC has again become a stumbling block. Our losses over the years are unquantifiable.
“We are appealing to Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Chairman of Ikenne Local Government, Hon. Jamiu Ashimi, to come to our aid.
#This suffering is too much. The government can either provide us another transformer or prevail on IBEDC to connect the one we have.”
The head of the community, Chief Adeyemo Sofola, also lamented the long absence of electricity in the area, saying it had crippled residents’ livelihoods and hampered the socio-economic growth of the community.
Sofola appealed to Abiodun and Ashimi to either provide a new transformer or intervene to ensure that IBEDC connects the existing one.
(Punch)
