By ADEPOTE AROWOJOBE

Residents of Maya Olorijo Estate, Ikorodu area of Lagos State, staged a peaceful protest on Monday over an 18-month power outage in the community.

The residents said the long period of blackout had affected businesses, undermining livelihoods and making life increasingly difficult in the area.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protesters, predominantly landlords and youths, marched to the Ikeja Electric Business District in Alogba area, holding up placards and chanting solidarity songs.

The placards had inscriptions such as, “18 months in darkness, killing Olorijo”; “18 months, no light for creditworthy customers, bring back our transformer” among others.

Speaking during the protest, Olorijo Community Development Association (CDA) Chairman, Mr Victor Ologhobo, said the problem started after a transformer serving the area developed a fault.

Ologhobo said the staff of Ikeja Electric, then, took the transformer for repairs on Jan. 13, 2025.

According to him, the community had been in total darkness since then, describing it as unsustainable for daily life and business operations.

“We are not asking for too much, give us a new transformer or repair and return the one taken from our community.

“For more than 18 months, local business owners have highlighted the severe impact of total darkness, noting that reliance on fuel-powered generators has significantly increased operational costs.

“We cannot continue like this; armed robbers disturb us and we spend a lot of money on fuel and hiring local vigilantes,” he said.

Responding, Mr Emmanuel Iberuche, Business Manager, Ikeja Electric, Ikorodu, apologised to the protesters over the delay of the transformer.

Iberuche attributed the challenge to bureaucracy and due process involved in supplying new transformers or repairing faulty ones, noting that the company also suffers losses when communities are without electricity.

He said reports on the happenings and grievances of the protesters would be forwarded to the headquarters, assuring that there would be a follow-up on their matter.

Earlier, Mr Samuel Odukoya, Head of Technical Unit at Ikeja Electric, said his team would install the transformer at no cost to the community as soon as approval is granted. (NAN)

•PHOTO: Residents of Maya Olorijo protesting 18-month power outage at Ikeja Electric business district office in Ikorodu