There is palpable rage among residents of seven communities in Oyo State as the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company cut electricity supply to seven communities over what it termed power theft and racketeering.
Some of the communities thrown into darkness since September 17 included Ajibode and Laaniba. The Jagun Balogun Ajibode Oke Ona, in the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Chief Moshood Ademola, said the IBEDC treated them unfairly, including some students of the University of Ibadan living in the area.
Some owners of business concerns such as hospitality business, fuel stations and hospitals are counting their losses as a result of using generators for their services.
Ademola said, “IBEDC is riding roughshod over us. Imagine between July and August, our transformer was faulty and we called their attention to it but they turned down its repair. They said they couldn’t render any help.
“We swung into action and contributed money. We spent N702, 000 on its repair yet they didn’t stop bringing estimated bills for those yet to acquire prepaid meters. We were in darkness for a month before we could raise the money needed for its repair.”
On what led to the transformer breakdown, he said, “The transformer is old, and the workload on it was much for the four zones using it which are about 300 households.”
He added, “They’ve always turned down even minor repairs to assist the community when rainfall and wind destroyed cables and poles. We got all the cables and poles needed yet they demanded money effect for repair works.”
On the latest misunderstanding that led the IBEDC to cut off the communities from electricity supply, Ademola said, “We got prepaid meters from a manager in Ajibode IBEDC.
“People in need of meters paid between N50,000 and N70,000. Recently, the IBEDC headquarters reportedly complained of low revenue and sent a team of auditors on a fact-finding mission to our communities. We didn’t know but we gathered that the said manager and his colleagues, frustrated the officials sent.
“They mobilised thugs to frustrate the team. On arrival, the miscreants pounced on IBEDC officials and disrupted their work. We later got to know what happened and sent representatives to them that we knew nothing about the development. Further investigation revealed that IBEDC officials in Ajibode were responsible for the attack because they were accused of not remitting to the office monthly bills paid to them by residents.’’
The Baale of Laaniba, Chief Olukunmi Laaniba, corroborated what Ademola said, appealing to Nigerians to prevail on the IBEDC to restore power to the area.
Laaniba said, “We were taken aback by the development because we expected heads to roll among the officials of the distribution company for allegedly defrauding not only the company but also some residents who they supplied with what the company termed fake prepaid meters.”
The Chairman of the Laaniba Landlords Association, Mr. Abayomi Kuponiyi, said, “Laaniba comprised about 500 buildings. We bought our transformer by ourselves in 2014. It costs N1.5m with materials and installation. We used it for a month for free and by the next month, IBEDC started bringing bills.
“Sometimes in August, they came to Laaniba to audit the work of their officials but their workers in Ajibode were said to have hired thugs to chase them away. Thereafter, they invited us to their office at Ring Road where they told us that we were not paying bills. We told them that we were paying and showed them evidence that maybe their officials in Ajibode didn’t remit the money.
“In short, we promised to assist them anytime they want to come again for the auditing because the community is known for peace. They came towards August ending and with the assistance of baale and myself, they did the auditing successfully for a week and cut the light of those owing and those accused of using fake meters.
“These people bought most of these meters through the Ajibode manager. They told the people with these meters to pay N10, 000 each for loss of revenue. And that they should be using the light directly and pay N5, 000 monthly; estimated billing system.”
Kuponiyi stated that after that, the people went to pay between N2, 000 and N3, 000 at the Ajibode office, but they were told they would only accept N5, 000 from them.
According to him, the IBEDC wanted to do the same thing in Ajibode by condemning some of their meters sold to them by the manager and officials in Ajibode.
He stated, “But the people in Ajibode did not allow it and that led to the disconnection of electricity from about seven communities since September 17, 2019.
“The worst part is that we learnt that IBEDC has sacked the employees who threw us into this problem without questioning them on how they would refund our people’s money. We even learnt that some had travelled out of Nigeria immediately they were sacked. The fake meters, according to IBEDC in these communities are about 70 pieces.”
A UI student in the area, Solomon Adefabi, lamented the power outage in the area which he said had adversely affected academic and commercial activities.
Adefabi said, “Many students had moved out of the area and are presently squatting elsewhere to be able to study well. We hope the communities and the IBEDC would reach workable terms on the best way to resolve all issues raised.’’
The Public Relations Officer of the IBEDC, Mrs Busolami Tunwase, blamed the crisis in the area on energy theft ongoing for some time.
She added, “Some of their representatives; a baale and their PRO just left our office now (Thursday). We held a meeting with them and agreed that the matter should be resolved; their light would be restored.
“There are lots of issues responsible for the unfortunate development. They bought meters from illegal persons and claimed they were paying but IBEDC did not receive any money. They promised to give a list of those in each of the community.
“There is a lot of energy theft ongoing there; there is going to be a document from our legal department and it is being done as I speak with you. We will carry out proper delineation of the area to find a permanent solution to the issue.”
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