Kogi Communities Lament Epileptic Supply of Electricity by IBEDC

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

Worried by the epileptic supply  of electricity by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company IBEDC,   consumers in some communities in Yagba West Local government area of Kogi State have sent Save-Our-Souls  to  the federal and state  governments to come to  their aid over uncontrollable situation.

They urged  the government  to, as matter of urgency, revoke the licence of the IBEDC or should join them  with the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) for effective supply of energy to their areas.

The electricity consumers in Egbe and other adjoining communities in Yagba West Local government area of the state have described the IBEDC as most unserious organisation  who has been reaping from where they have not invested .

They lamented that IBEDC  has been collecting tariffs without the corresponding power supply to the area as the  Disco has put a lot of communities in a perpetual darkness for months.

 Among other complaints against IBEDC are:”That the distribution company has continued to  fatally degenerate in its services to its customers in the state with  reckless sense of irresponsibility 

“That the Christmas and New Year celebrations in the state was drastically void of its usual fun fares and thrills owing to  low supply of light and  total electricity outage in some parts of the state

 “That IBEDC repugnant disposition has invariably closed many small businesses in the state who rely heavily on constant electricity supply to make ends meet

“That IBEDC has flagrantly refused to provide the Pre- paid Metres (as directed by the federal government ) to its customers with only a pantry of about 20 per cent of the over 1.8 million customers who applied for the prepaid metres  attended to. 

“That the staff of IBEDC has continued to exhibit profound moral gap in their underhand dealings through extortions of customers and disconnections of light in the slightest provocation.

“That significant communities in the state  like Egbe, Odo Ere, Odo Eri, Omi Ejiba  ,Oga Okoloke ,Odo Egbe among others have continued to  stay without electricity supply for  upward of three years   or more with no response from the distribution company yet the monthly bills continue to pile.”

Speaking with THISDAY, a resident of Egbe, Mr. Olayinka Olumide,  has expressed sadness over the irredeemable situation the people of the area have found themselves.

Olumide explained that the  facilities are poor, stressing that most of the wooden poles erected in the 70s are still the ones in used and some of them has broken down and others  consumed by bush fire, this making distribution of power to be epileptic here.

According to him,” Most rural areas goes for months without light, and when it comes customers only feel it for some hours before they take it again

 “The services here are extremely bad, most times the light goes for weeks without blinking and most houses are on estimated billing

 “For the billing, being an estimated billing, bills are done based on the nature of building, once you have a bigger house, your bill must be much notwithstanding gadgets in use,

“The substation in Egbe was awarded during Jonathan government, it was 90 per cent completed before Buhari came in to government, but has since been abandoned since Buhari came in, we believe if the substation could be completed, there must surely be stable light here.”

Some of the young male artisans have forced to abandoned the work to become commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators while others have gone to other cities to do menial jobs for a living.

A petty trader  in Egbe, Madam Grace Erinle, who sell water and soft drinks and rely solely  on power for her refrigerator  pointed that poor supply of electricity has forced her out of business as it comes more difficult to selll a bag of pure water and create of soft drink in a week.

Mr . Oluwasehun Ojo ,a welder lamented that poor supply of electricity to Egbe and its environs have forced many of the people to relocate to nearby commercial cities such as Ilorin, Lokoja and Abuja as the case made be. 

Ojo appealed to the. State and Federal governments to assist the people in the area stable electricity supply to boost the social life of the people, noting that it will also put an end to drifting of the people from rural areas to urban centres.