Residents of Akure, capital of Ondo State, and many other towns are upset about a week-long total electric power outage, our correspondent reported.
The power outage was triggered by a major technical problem at the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) that supplies electric power to the state. Many residents said they had not had power since last Sunday.
“Today (Sunday) makes it seven days since the BEDC threw the state into total darkness. Yet we have received no notification or explanation,” one of the residents said.
“We are not happy over this issue,” said Bayo Adelokun, a resident of the Aule section of Akure. He continued: “For the past seven days, we have not had electricity in this street. And I learnt that the whole Ondo State is experiencing the same bad situation.”
Several business owners bemoaned the economic impact of the power outage. “We have been running generators nonstop and the cost of fuel is very high,” said one retailer. Another business owner said his activities “have been paralyzed,” disclosing that local manufacturers that rely on electricity are shutting down.
Many artisans such as welders, barbers, refrigerator and electronic technicians, fishermen, frozen food sellers are now idle, as there is no power to carry on their businesses.
One resident noted that the price of frozen goods had increased sharply over the last few days.
Ms. Kemi Awoyeni, who owns a 'cold room' store at Oba Adesida Market, said that the blackout was a disaster to her business, as her frozen goods had gone bad. “Nothing is more frustrating than this. For seven days, there was no power in my shop. And mostly all the frozen goods in there have spoiled. This is a big shortage in business for me,” she said.
Relatives of a patient at one of the private hospitals said the hospital had charged them extra fees to cover the cost of running a power generator.
The aggrieved residents said no official of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) had talked to them to explain the situation or offer an apology.
SaharaReporters contacted several district business centers of the company, but no official was willing to talk. A low level official of the company who refused to give his name said, “Mr. Reporter, none of us knows exactly what is happening on this power outage. We can't even tell that a major problem has caused this seven-day outage.
“All I know is that there is a fault on the transmission that generates power to Ondo State and some of its environs. But I don't know that major fault. We are still confused.”
Another low level official in BEDC’s Akure office said the fault was from Osogbo, in Osun State, but added that the cause of that problem “is confusing.” According to him, “We have not gotten the major problem. You know Osogbo's feeder supplies Ondo electricity. We are just troubleshooting and re-directing the lines from Osogbo in Osun State. The problem with the fault is confusing and I can't give further details than this.”
Several residents in low income areas said the blackout had spurred a spike in armed robbery and other violent crimes. “We now sleep with our eyes open,” said one resident. He added: “Yesterday (Saturday) we could not sleep in our street. Armed robbers attacked a businesswoman who sells women clothes that she buys from Dubai and they carted away her money. The robbers used the opportunity of no electricity and climbed on the fence to enter her house and to escape. They shot her husband on the leg because he did not answer their order to open the door early.”
Ms. Awoyeni accused the BEDC officials of “taking us for granted,” insisting that the company “should explain to us what exactly is happening not just act as if everything is normal.”
Some residents threatened to stage protests if the problem persists, adding that such action might not augur well with the electricity firm.