No fewer than 50 communities in Osogbo, Osun state, on Friday barricaded the regional office of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) in protest against the disconnection of their electricity.
The protesters condemned the action of the IBEDC who they accused of paralysing business activities with no genuine reasons.
Speaking with our correspondent, Dapo Onanuga, a resident of Ayegbami community, said the protest was necessitated by the illegal disconnection of their light by the IBEDC.
He said, “We are connected to Idi-oro transformer. For some time now, we have been disconnected. During the Ramadan festival, it happens like that and it was resolved.
“It is unreasonable to put those in postpaid and prepaid in a category. It is not done anywhere. Those in prepaid have paid and they are yet to use their light. By the time we came here to let them understand, they insisted that until they give us the list and go to the people to ask them and we say no. It is not possible. We are not your staff. We don’t have the right to go to any place to ask for money.
“I think Nigerians have had enough of this suffering and that is why this agitation is going on.”
However, the state government has expressed fears and called for an immediate resolution to avoid unnecessary escalation or being hijacked by hoodlums.
A statement by the spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed, indicated that, “The state government is also concerned about the likely breakdown of law and order, as there are pockets of protests from the affected communities.
The statement read in part, “The state government hereby calls on the two parties to consider an alternative dispute resolution method, as the blackout might also lead to an increase in insecurity among the affected communities and shutdown of business activities.
“The IBEDC is encouraged to reconnect the communities to power supply while an immediate solution is found to the question of huge debt owed by the affected communities.
“Immediate resolution of the issue will put an end to the ongoing protests. We cannot afford to allow such protests to be hijacked by unscrupulous elements in pursuance of their nefarious activities.
“We are committed to brokering a peaceful negotiation between the management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, and the stakeholders from the affected communities.”
