Residents of Ikotun, Igando, Ijegun and Isheri Osun in Lagos have been in blackout for about a month due to breakdown of the Ejigbo Transmission Station.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the blackout has crippled economic activities in the Lagos suburbs where many artisans and petty traders depend on electricity for operations.
The residents, led by their various Community Development Associations (CDAs) executives, have lodged several complaints at outlets of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in the areas but the blackout persists.
The Chairman of the Community Road CDA in Ijegun, Mr Abimbola Alabi, told NAN on Tuesday that the community was fed up with the situation.
“When the power supply seized in September, we gathered and went to PHCN officials and they told us that it was a major fault from Ejigbo Transmission Station.
“They promised to fix it within the first week of this situation but it has lingered for over three weeks. The residents cannot bear it anymore, “ Alabi said.
He said that many members of the community could no longer carry out businesses that require use of power, as they could not afford to fuel their power generators.
A landlord in Isheri Osun, Mr Kenechukwu Nwaka, said that the blackout had worsened the economic situation of the affected residents.
“We cannot freeze our foods anymore except those who can afford to buy fuel for generators, but many people cannot afford to use power generators anymore because of high fuel price,“ he said.
A mechanical engineer, Mr Segun Olanrewaju, said that he had lost some patronage because of the blackout because customers could not pay for using power generator to repair their vehicles.
“The cost of welding has gone high because of the use of generator instead of electricity. The cost of welding an exhaust pipe has increased from N1,000 to N1,500 because,“ he said.
A hair dresser, who identified herself simply as Safinat said that she used her power generator which meant additional cost.
NAN reports that the power outage has resulted in long queues in petrol station in the areas as more residents use power generators to run their homes and businesses to survive.
The Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Mr Felix Ofulue, has, however, said that the PHCN was addressing the issue.
“We have received complaints, and our team discovered that the problem is from Ejigbo. Our engineers are already working on it, “ he said.
He told NAN that the company had explained the situation to the affected communities through text messages.
