Kwara community laments over 18 months blackout

Alhaji Ahmed Seriki, the Chairman of Oke-Oyi Community Development Association of Ilorin East Local Government area of Kwara, has called on IBEDC to restore normal electricity supply after 18 months of power outage in the area.

In an interview on Sunday in Ilorin, Seriki decried the situation and appealed to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to urgently address the issue.

The situation, he said, has been affecting the 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,” Seriki said.

The leader regretted that many business men and women have relocated to other towns, while those that could not, have been languishing in abject poverty.

Similarly, the Secretary of the association, Mr Jamiu Oladokun, explained that there was a time the community bought cables to replace the faulty ones to restore the light.

But Oladokun said the effort yielded no desired response.

“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 equipment.

“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 the residents of the community.

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

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the blackout has also affected other neighbouring communities, including Agbeyangi, Oke-Ose, Panada, Badi, Adelu and Oloro.