Blackout in Ogun state: communities beg IBEDC for urgent intervention

Solomon Ezeme

People living in Sango, Ijoko, Cadbury, Watergate, Temidire, Dalemo and other areas of Ogun State, are presently experiencing power outages due to technical faults at the Oke-Aro Transmission Station.

They have appealed to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (Ibadan DisCo), to help salvage the situation, as soon as possible.

The affected communities which include: Ijoko, Sango, Onipetesi, Oyero, Olowoagolo, Carwash, Arepo, Gas Line, Abeokuta Road, Temidire, Dalemo, Abeokuta Street, Sunshine, Oke Sinai, Lisa, Ekerin, Watergate, Gmag, Elerinko and Cadbury, have lamented constant power outages, as some of the residents have told EnergyDay that some neighbouring communities enjoy more power supply than others.

David Olumuyiwa Seriki, a resident at Cornerstone Estate, who spoke with Energyday on Monday, disclosed that the community has been experiencing power outages, in the form of very low daily power supply.

Mr. Seriki complained that a nearby community, Second Gate (200 metres away), enjoys about 20 hours of electricity supply daily.

He said: “We have not had up to two hours power supplied at a stretch during the day, in months. Usually, the DisCo supplies us power in the midnight when we are asleep, starting from 12 a.m, and takes it by 6am in the morning – just about the time we would have needed it the most.

“It’s rare that it supplies it during the day, except on days when their agents are around to ask for monthly electricity bills owed by some community members.

“Meanwhile, just less than 200 metres away from our community, you find another community called Second Gate. The community gets up to 20 hours of power supply daily, even if it rains. And this is why we’re quite concerned about it.

“We feel that if our neighbours could get that amount of power supply from IBEDC, why can’t our community, as well? Are we not also their customers?

“It’s been that way for a really long time now, and we wish things could change.

“We are appealing to the Ibadan DisCo to kindly supply us power at Cornerstone Estate as living here without power, daily, is becoming unbearable.”

Abiodun Damilare Oluwarantimi, also a resident of one of the affected communities took to the DisCo’s official Facebook page to express his displeasure.

“So the Ibadan DisCo feels this is the right time to notify its customers, after we have been left in the dark since about three days.

“It’s funny how anything happens in Nigeria. This is what you get when customers are not being valued,” he said.

Meanwhile, when EnergyDay contacted and spoke with the Lead, Media Relations at IBEDC, Mrs. Busolami Tunwase, to get her reaction to the development, she disclosed to us that the technical team of the DisCos is currently working in conjunction with the team from the Oke-Aro Transmission Station, to correct the faults and restore power to the affected communities, as soon as possible.

“As I speak to you, our technical team are out there working to make sure that the faults are rectified, as soon as possible.

“It would be to our loss if we deliberately to put our customers in darkness. We will gain nothing by doing such a thing. I am sure the technical team will get this rectified within the shortest possible time.

“The challenge is that: the issue is way beyond us – it’s not something we alone can handle because the fault, as mentioned, is from the transmission station. It’s not just about supply, it’s about transmission. And if the transmission network does not give electricity to the distribution network, how do we get the power to distribute?

“Those at the transmission station have come to carry the circuit breaker, so they are aware of the situation and are working on it. Our technical team has also joined them to ensure that there is quick solution,” she said.

She also noted that the IBEDC has apologized to its customers in the affected communities, promising to restore power to them soon.

“We have also rendered an apology to our customers in those communities, explaining to them the reason for the outages. There had even been several engagements with them, over the week, just to appeal to them over the outage,” Tunwase said.