Residents on Greenland Estate, Idowu-Egba, in the Igando area of Lagos State, have accused a power distribution company, Ikeja Electric, of plunging the community into darkness.
It was gathered that the community stopped having power supply when its transformer developed a fault on January 18.
Our correspondent learned that two weeks afterward, officials of the distribution company took the transformer away for repairs.
However, residents said since the transformer was taken away, there had been no communication from the firm.
A resident, who identified himself simply as Kayode, accused Ikeja Electric of insensitivity to the plight of the community.
He said, “We did not have power supply, so we spoke to one or two landlords and they said there were issues with the transformer. I called a technical officer at Ikeja Electric and he told me that they were not aware of what happened and that they would get back to me.
“I called him all through the next day, but he didn’t take his calls. When I called him the following Monday, he told me that executive members of our CDA had come to their office and that they had settled the matter. I asked him when we would have power and he said he did not know; then he hung up.
“Two weeks ago, they came to pick the transformer. What our landlords communicated to us when they asked us to contribute money was that before Ikeja Electric would take the transformer, they would bring another one for us to use in the meantime. We waited and up till now, we have not heard anything from them.”
Another resident, Isa Jacob, told our correspondent that economic activities in the community had been paralyzed.
He said, “It’s been more than a month that we didn’t have electricity. Over two weeks ago, the transformer was taken away and they said they would bring it after repairs and since then, we have been waiting, till now.
“There is no news about the transformer; we don’t know what is happening and we don’t know when the transformer will be brought back. This power issue has affected me as a person and I can’t even quantify it coupled with the fuel scarcity.”
Another member of the community, who identified himself as Comrade John, said all efforts to reach out to officials of the firm had been abortive.
He said, “We have tried to reach out to the commercial manager and the man is not talking to us; we don’t know what is happening. This has affected us in all areas. I have been running on the generator for over a month and with this fuel scarcity, it’s beginning to become much more painful.
“I was able to run into one of the excos of the CDA yesterday (Friday); he had been telling us that the transformer was coming soon. But he bluntly told me that he did not have any information as regards the transformer anymore.”
The Head of Corporate Communications, IE, Felix Ofulue, promised to find out the issue with the transformer and when it would be returned to the community.
He said, “There are other transformers in our workshop, so it’s not straightforward as they think. But I will find out what the challenge is with their transformer and I will let them know how soon the transformer can be returned.”
