Ahmed Seriki, the chairman of Oke-Oyi community development association of Ilorin East LGA in Kwara, has called on Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to restore to electricity to the area after 18 months of power outage.

In an interview on Sunday in Ilorin, Mr Seriki decried the situation and appealed to IBEDC to urgently address the issue.

The situation, Mr Seriki said, has adversely affected commercial activities in the area, amidst prevailing economic hardship.

“We urge the appropriate authorities, particularly the state Governor and the IBEDC, to restore the power outage in the town. The power outage has paralysed socio-economic activities in this community,” Mr Seriki said.

He regretted that many businesspeople relocated to other towns, while those that could not are languishing in abject poverty.

Similarly, the secretary of the association, Jamiu Oladokun, explained there was a time the community bought cables to help restore electricity.

But Mr Oladokun said the effort yielded no desired result.

“All the hospitals in Oke-Oyi are complaining about the huge amount of diesel and petrol they buy to power their generators and other necessary equipments. We have made several meetings with the IBEDC officials at Baboko and Sango in Ilorin, to the extent that we contributed money to procure the damaged materials, yet it was fruitless,” he said.

The secretary described the situation as unbearable for residents.

A resident, Jimoh Yewande, appealed to the authorities to save them as it is easy for criminals to operate more in darkness.

The blackout also affects Agbeyangi, Oke-Ose, Panada, Badi, Adelu and Oloro.

(NAN)