Residents of Love Estate in Ikorodu-Elepe, Lagos State, on Sunday lamented five months power outage in the community that has grounded businesses.

They appealed to the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) to restore power to the community after the only electricity transformer was taken away for repairs in January.

The residents said the prolonged absence of electricity made them vulnerable to attacks from marauders who operate under the cover of darkness, saying it has also grounded their businesses and other activities that rely on electricity.

Some of residents who spoke during an interview said that despite the donation of a N15 million transformer to IKEDC by the community, pending the return of the faulty one, the company failed to energise it.

A resident, Emmanuel Ayanda, said immediately the estate’s transformer developed a fault and IKEDC was not forthcoming, the community contributed N15 million to purchase a 500 KVA new transformer which was “donated” to IKEDC.

Mr Ayanda explained despite the donation of the transformer with the necessary official steps taken, the electricity distribution company refused to energise it and failed to return the faulty one.

He said that residents have been “spending a lot on buying fuel” to power their generators in the last five months, while economic activities have been paralysed.

Another resident and businesswoman. Ranti Olaniyi, expressed disappointment over the continued failure of IKEDC to restore electricity in the community for the past five months.

Mrs Olaniyi expressed concern and distress over the harm caused to her business by the prolonged blackout.

“We have been left in total darkness, and our daily lives have been severely disrupted. As a business owner, this prolonged blackout is having a devastating impact on my business operations and income. My turnover has dropped drastically, and I am unable to meet customers’ demands or run essential equipment. We seek urgent intervention and public attention to this matter. We deserve basic infrastructure and reliable electricity to live and work with dignity”, she said.

Another resident, Ayo Ikuomola, another resident, said that it had been a tough time for the community in the last five months without electricity.

Mr Ikuomola said that when the transformer serving the estate was faulty in December 2024, officers of Ikeja electric were contacted and they came to pick it for repair.

According to him, when IKEDC was not forthcoming on the repair, residents of the community contributed N15 million to purchase a new transformer which was donated to the company.

He said, “Despite the fact that the donation was received by IKEDC and necessary approvals were given, neither the old transformer that was taken for repair returned nor the new one energised. Since the power outage, and for my business to survive, I have spent over N1 million to buy fuel to power my generator. This is frustrating. Every morning, women and children roaming around the streets looking for where to fetch water and to charge their phones. We appeal to the concern authorities to come to our rescue. This suffering is too much.’’

Meanwhile, residents of the community at an emergency meeting on Saturday vowed to stage a peaceful protest at the IKEDC headquarters in Ikeja on Monday.

The Chairman of the Community Development Association, Segun Oni, while addressing the residents, appealed to Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to come to the community’s aid.

Mr Oni explained the community’s faulty transformer that was taken away on January 3, 2025, by IKEDC for repair had not been returned, while the new 500KVA donated by the community had not been energised.

“We have been in darkness for more than five months now and we cannot continue like this. We have written several letters to NERC, other government parastatals and even donated a new transformer to IKEDC without any hope in sight. We appeal to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other concerned authorities to please come to our aid. We are staging a peaceful and organised protest to IKEDC office on Monday. We have done our part by donating a transformer to IKEDC but to no avail. Enough is Enough,” he said.

Contacted, Head of Technical Unit, IKEDC Business Unit, Alogba, Ikorodu, Samuel Odukoya, declined to comment on the matter

Mr Odukoya, however, advised that enquiries should be directed to the corporate affairs unit of the company in Ikeja.

Efforts to get the reaction of Head of Corporate Communications, IKEDC, Kingsley Okotie, were unsuccessful.

(NAN)