Pandemonium ensued at the Igbobi office of the Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) on Friday 20th April 2024 as the residents of streets comprising of Ogati, Soyinka, Ayodele, and Akinsoji in the Fadeyi area of the state took their grievances to the electricity distribution company to protest over week-long blackout.
According to one of the protesters, Engr. Kayode Ajisafe who spoke to Somolu News said that they came to protest about the callous attitude of the company towards the consumers describing it as a pathetic situation and disappointing stressing that they have been deprived of adequate power supply for over two weeks despite complaints and plea to have the fault effected for them to enjoy what they’re paying for.
He went further, “It’s so pathetic and disappointing that we can be thrown into darkness despite our complaints and plea and the most annoying thing is that there was no official press statement from the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) be it on social media or radio as to what went wrong and the way out. Although, it’s their job to rectify the problem but they need to carry us along because we’re also stakeholders”.
“I have spent so much running the generator and couldn’t afford to continue buying fuel, I had to resort to taking all my rechargeable appliances to my place of work to charge them. You can imagine that level of disgrace and discomfort”.
Similarly, another protester who craved anonymity said he was not expecting that a corporate organization like IKEDC would stoop so low to the extent of not making any effort to let people know what went wrong with the power supply when necessary even with the advent of social media which he claimed led to losing foodstuff stored in the freezer amounting to thousands of Naira.
“I was expecting a situation where the management of IKEDC will put up a statement through the community leaders or even social media platforms informing us about the technical faults and what they’re doing about it but rather they felt unconcerned about our situation. Unfortunately, most foodstuff stored in the freezer has all spoilt leaving us at the mercy of hunger and starvation. They’re just so insensitive and unreliable”.
“We are here to shut the edifice down until they find a solution to the problem that brought us here”. He fumed.
Meanwhile, one or two top members of the management staff came to appease the raging protesters with a promise to find a lasting solution to the debacle facing the area. In contrast, the protesters vowed never to back down until their requests are met and addressed appropriately.
