8th November, 2010
Residents of Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria, have appealed to the management of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), to put an end to their suffering and restore electricity to the area.
The areas affected, according to them, include Wilmer, Babatunde and Idowu, among so many other streets in Olodi-Apapa.
It was gathered that the area has been in total darkness for more than four months.
Benedict Tobichukwu, a resident of Wilmer Street, told Lagos Bulletin that life has become difficult for the residents as a result of power outage which has plunged the community in darkness and without hope in sight as to when electricity would be restored.
Tobichukwu informed said no reason was given for the outage, while all efforts to meet top officials of the power company in the area have proved abortive.
He stated that despite irregular power supply, the agency officials still issue bills to them every month, which they are forced to pay.
He therefore appealed to the management of PHCN to save them and their children over the matter.
Another resident, James Adekola, who resides at Babatunde Street in Olodi-Apapa, said “we have been in darkness for more than three months and no reason has been given by the management of PHCN. The situation is so terrible that our businesses are dying, while social activities are gradually phasing out. The situation requires special attention and we want the state government to come to our rescue because things cannot continue like this.
“The worst part of it is that we are being made to pay for the service not rendered, this is the ridiculous and we pray that government will come to our aid.â€
In a related development, residents of Akeju, Rufai, Ogunnike Awofeso, Adeola, Oguntolu, Olaleye and other streets in Somolu council area of the state have called on PHCN to put an end to the on and off system of power supply to the area, which, according to them, is grossly affecting business activities.
Most of those that spoke with Lagos Bulletin said the power company has no reason to supply electricity to the area with such sharing formula, supporting their argument with the availability of transformers in nearly all the streets.
They also said with the on and off sharing formula, they are being made to pay double what they used to pay as electricity bill, while the supply is not constant.
They therefore called on the agency to change the system of power supply to the area.
When Lagos Bulletin called at the agency’s undertaking offices at Ajegunle and Onipanu, no top official could be reached to comment on the development.
