7th July, 2015
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
For allegedly being in total blackout for the past five months, residents of Iwogban community in Ikpoba-Okha local government area of Edo State on Tuesday staged a mass but peaceful protest to the Head office of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
The angry protesters numbering hundreds who carried placards of different inscriptions, said they were mainly artisans and owners of small scale businesses who depend on electricity for the survival of their businesses, adding that, they have been thrown into total darkness since January this year.
They demanded immediate restoration of power to the community.
Spokesperson for the group, Comrade Joy Imuetiyan, explained that residents of the community made “personal donation of N150, 000” to the electricity company to fix the transformer servicing the area after officials of the company blamed “faulty transformer” for the epileptic power supply to the area.
“After paying the N150, 000 last year, they (BEDC) took the transformer away and brought it back, with an assurance that all was now well with the facility. We were however taken aback when the transformer exploded weeks after the company supposedly fixed it,” she said, adding that, all diplomatic attempts to make the officials fix the transformer had failed.
“Besides, rather than address the issue straight away, an official of BEDC, one Henry Irene who addressed us right here is also asking us to sign an undertaken that we would protect their facilities,” she stated.
While claiming that the transformer was no longer serviceable, it was gathered that the BEDC will only restore power when some electricity consumers in the neighbourhood pay their debts.
Continuing, Comrade Imuetiyan stated that their suspicion arose when BEDC blinked the light twice last month and wondered if it was not the same transformer the company had claimed was beyond repairs.
The official was said to have afterwards assured the protesters that power would be restored to the area.
Attempt to reach the spokesman for the company, Mr. Curtis Nwandei for comments was unsuccessful as he was said to be outside the state on official assignment.