Power
THREE communities in Lagos are protesting alleged disconnection from the Ikeja Electric. The communities said they have been living in darkness for more than four weeks. The affected communities, which claim that the Ikeja Electric disconnected them from the transformers feeds of the areas, are Enilolobo, Obanla and Ajibose, all in suburbs of Lagos state.
They called on the Disco to reconnect them as well as provide prepaid meters for them. Balogun Ismail, chairman of the youth association of the areas said: “We have been in a face-off with the Disco over our demands for the provision of prepaid meters; replacement of damaged, fallen and worn-out electrical cables, which continue to endanger the lives of the residents of the areas.
“The cables are so bad that they almost killed a schoolgirl when it fell on her way to school. Apart from the dangers posed to residents by the obsolete cables, the cables are disjointed and continue to fall incessantly.”
The residents also alleged that the sales representative of Ikeja Electric in the area, Joseph Aderibigbe, engages in underhand dealings and extortion. “He will come to a house which uses a meter and accuses the occupants of bypassing the meter and he will then demand they pay heavy fines which are usually sent to his personal bank account or a proxy bank account that he chooses,” a resident told Realnews.
The residents had in a series of letters, demanded that the company should address the issues they raised and that any electricity bill bearing the name of Joseph Aderibigbe, sales representative, would not be honoured.
But the Disco is also accusing the communities of threatening and assaulting their field staff. A staffer of the company, who asked for anonymity, said they had orders to shut down the transformers feeding the areas because the communities were Obstinate and have refused to pay their electricity bills. “Apart from not paying, they have threatened our staff on several occasions when they go out to carry out their legitimate duties,” he said.
However, a resident of the communities said at no time did they threaten or physically assault any staffer of IKEDC. Clement Ije said, “We have not threatened them in any way. All we asked is that since they have refused to oblige us with our demands, which they agreed to in several meetings we held with them, we cannot continue to pay our bills when these issues remain unresolved.”
When contacted, Felix Ofulue, head, corporate communications, Ikeja Electric, said in a WhatsApp message that it was not possible for the staff of the company to disconnect consumers based on the issues they raised. “I suggest you look into the details properly. If there are disconnection issues, it is definitely not because they are requesting for meters. That is not possible,” he said.
Ofulue, however, asked that the residents furnish him with the names of the affected areas so he can properly assess the situation.
– Aug. 9, 2019 @ 11:49 GMT |
Tags: Lagos communities cry out over disconnection by Ikeja Electric
