Some residents of Love Estate in Ikorodu-Elepe Area of Lagos State on Sunday lamented five months of power outage in the community that has grounded businesses.
They appealed to the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company to restore power to the community after the only electricity transformer was taken away for repairs in January.
The residents said the prolonged absence of electricity has made them vulnerable to attacks from marauders who operate under the cover of darkness, saying it has also grounded their businesses and other activities that rely on electricity.
Some of residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria said that despite the donation of a N15 million transformer to IKEDC by the community, pending the return of the faulty one, the company failed to energise it.
A resident, Mr Emmanuel Ayanda, said immediately the estate’s transformer developed a fault and IKEDC was not forthcoming, the community contributed N15 million to purchase a 500 KVA new transformer which was “donated” to IKEDC.
Ayanda explained that despite the donation of the transformer with the necessary official steps taken, the electricity distribution company refused to energise it and also failed to return the faulty one.
He said that residents have been “spending a lot on buying fuel” to power their generators in the last five months, while economic activities have been paralysed.
Another resident, Mrs Ranti Olaniyi, a businesswoman, expressed disappointment over the continued failure of IKEDC to restore electricity in the community for the past five months.
Olaniyi expressed deep concern and distress over the harm caused to her business by the prolonged blackout.
“We have been left in total darkness, and our daily lives have been severely disrupted.
“As a business owner, this prolonged blackout is having a devastating impact on my business operations and income.
“My turnover has dropped drastically, and I am unable to meet customers’ demands or run essential equipment.
“We seek urgent intervention and public attention to this matter. We deserve basic infrastructure and reliable electricity to live and work with dignity”, she said.
Mr Ayo Ikuomola, another resident, said that it had been a tough time for the community in the last five months without electricity.
Ikuomola said that when the transformer serving the estate was faulty in December 2024, officers of Ikeja electric were contacted, and they came to pick it up for repair.
According to him, when IKEDC is not forthcoming on the repair, residents of the community contributed N15 million to purchase a new transformer, and which was donated to the company.
“Despite the fact that the donation was received by IKEDC and necessary approvals were given, neither the old transformer that was taken for repair returned nor the new one energised.
“Since the power outage, and for my business to survive, I have spent over N1 million to buy fuel to power my generator.
“This is frustrating. Every morning, women and children are always roaming the streets looking for where to fetch water and to charge their phones.
“We appeal to the concerned authorities to come to our rescue. This suffering is too much,” he said.
