Again, protest rock Ogun

Youths in Owode-Egba in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, on Monday protested against six months power outage in the community.

The youth, who staged the protest under the aegis of the Owode-Egba Youths Development Movement, carried placards with various inscriptions, including, ‘End darkness in Owode-Egba’, ‘We are tired of darkness in Owode-Egba’, ‘We say no to estimated billing’, ‘IBEDC is killing our business’, and ‘IBEDC light up Owode-Egba’.

The protesters, who were drawn from 32 areas in the town, walked through major streets and sang protest songs.

The group, who also took their protest to the palace of the Olu of Owode-Egba, Oba Kolawole Sowemimo, and the headquarters of the council, accused the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company of turning deaf ears to their pleas.

The President of the Owode-Egba Youths Development Movement, AbdulFatai Shoneye, said the main injection power transformer that supplied electricity to their community got burnt in August 2020.

He lamented that efforts to ensure that the transformer was replaced by the distribution company failed to yield any result.

Shoneye explained that since the community was thrown into darkness, IBEDC had not come out with any official position.

He added that business in the town had suffered, while criminals had been terrorising residents as a result of the blackout.

“We want the government to come to our aid because the IBEDC has told us that this is beyond their power. The transformer is not just an ordinary transformer, it is 2.5MVA 33/11.

“We are appealing to the government and well-meaning people to come to our aid so that we will get our business back on track; every business here has collapsed due to elongated power outage,” he said.

Addressing the protesters, Oba Sowemimo bemoaned the power outage and appealed to the protesters to be calm.

The traditional ruler said he had engaged officials of the electricity company to ensure the damaged transformer was fixed, expressing disappointment at the way the company was handling the matter.

The Regional Communications Officer of the IBEDC, Ayodeji Bada, denied ignoring the demands of the community.

Bada stated, “The transformer is a 2.5MVA bulk transformer. It was supposed to be used for a mini injection station. The order to import a new one to replace the damaged one has been placed, but it will take a while before it gets here. We are doing everything possible to ensure that power is restored in Owode Egba and its environs.”