Youths from Ososo, Ojah, Ijiranmi and other communities in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State have protested an eight-month electricity blackout, saying the prolonged outage has crippled businesses and hindered development in the affected areas.
The protesters staged the demonstration on Thursday at the Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Power in Benin, carrying placards and calling for urgent intervention.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Bernard Gomina said residents had endured severe hardship despite previous interventions by community leaders and the member representing Akoko-Edo II Constituency, Donald Okogbe.
He said the prolonged outage had badly affected businesses and commercial activities in the communities.
Another protester, identified as Abayomi, alleged that residents had contributed significant amounts of money to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) on several occasions to repair faulty equipment, but the electricity problem remained unresolved.
He also complained about what he described as excessive estimated bills issued to residents before the complete outage and called for an alternative electricity provider if BEDC could not deliver reliable supply.
Okogbe, who joined the protesters, said the affected communities had become frustrated by the situation. He urged the electricity regulator to consider removing the communities from BEDC’s coverage if the company could no longer provide reliable electricity.
He stressed that electricity was essential to economic growth and the wellbeing of residents, urging the authorities to treat the situation as an emergency.
Responding, the Chief Executive Officer of Edo SEBCO commended the protesters for maintaining a peaceful demonstration and said efforts were underway to restore electricity. He disclosed that the technical team responsible for the area was already on site and assured the protesters that power would be restored by Saturday.
The Chairman of the Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr Shittu Shaibu, also said the commission was aware of the situation and was working to resolve it, while the Commissioner for Power, Paul Osenbo, asked the protesters to submit a detailed memorandum of their complaints.