Residents of Ondo South Senatorial District have berated the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, for its alleged continued failure to restore power in communities in the area after years of blackout.

While describing the situation as an act of sabotage on the part of the BEDC, the residents who protested against the development stated that the district had been without electricity for 14 years of a blackout.

To ensure an end to the prolonged blackout, a 132 kV transmission line and 132/33 kV transformers were built in Erinje, Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, which was inaugurated in May by President Bola Tinubu.

Following the inauguration, communities and hamlets in Ilaje, Okitipupa, Ese-Odo, Odigbo, and Irele had not been reconnected to the national grid.

Armed with placards of various inscriptions, the protesters accused BEDC of deceiving the state government that the affected communities had been reconnected.

According to the Olu of Igbokoda, Oba Odidi Omo Afolabi Oladimeji, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, since the inauguration of the substation, electricity had not been restored and the people can no longer tolerate the sabotage by the BEDC.

“We are protesting to let the Ondo State government know that BEDC has succeeded in deceiving them that there is light in the Southern Senatorial District. Out of the five local governments in the South, there is not a single one with electricity.

“We have been battling for years to say that BEDC should give us light, but they said they were waiting for the substation that was being built in Erinje before they would give it to us.

“Even when there are other routes that they could use, they insisted on using Erinje. But Erinje is now live, and up until now, there has been no electricity. The moment the place was commissioned, BEDC went to town to say, Oh, they have restored light to the area, but up to today, there is no light anywhere.

“There are about three local governments that there are no poles linking them to anywhere, and there is no way they could have light. Ilaje and Okitipupa local governments seem to have some edge; even when they bring light several times, what they bring is just 200 kilowatts, when there are 64,000 kilowatts in Erinje substation, and the 200 kilowatts are not even up to four or five houses.

While reacting to the development, the Special Adviser to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Energy, Johnson Alabi, said, “We are going to sit down as a team and discuss the way forward. As a matter of fact, we also know that very soon we are going to invite stakeholders to a meeting.

“About two weeks ago, we had a delegation of people from the Ondo State Electricity Regulatory Bureau and Ondo State Power Company. We sent them to that end to find out how power has been distributed and how effective they have been. The report we got was not too palatable. But then, we believe there is always a way out.”

Ondo South residents protest BEDC’s failure to restore electricity in communities