Blackout: Customers slam Eko, Ikeja DisCos

Electricity consumers on Saturday slammed Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Ikeja Electric Plc over the epileptic power supply being experienced in Lagos State in the past weeks.

Some of their customers made their views known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos while reacting to the situation on Friday.

NAN quotes Eko DisCo as confirming that the national grid had collapsed, a development it said was responsible for the outage being experienced by customers within its network.

However, some customers told NAN that they had not received a power supply from the DisCos for days before the incident.

Mr. Mutiu Oyekan, a businessman, decried the poor supply of electricity by the DisCos and noted that it was negatively affecting both residents and business owners in the state.

“Even before the national grid collapse, we in Ibeju-lekki, Abijo down to Awoyaya didn’t have light for the past four days,” he said.

Similarly, Miss Ifeoma Ike, a hairdresser in Amuwo-Odofin, area said the power situation had been on and off for weeks within the axis.

“They just flash the light and take it again after a few minutes. After another three or more hours they will repeat it and they want us to continue to pay for services not rendered. I have been spending so much to run my generator and it is very stressful on my business,” she said.

Another resident, Mr. Ismail Anu, also confirmed that the Ebute Metta area had been in darkness for over a week.

“This is not just about the national grid collapsing. We have been in total darkness since last Saturday,” he said.

Mr. Godwin Aya, Founder, Electricity Access Forum, said some parts of Meiran, Iyana-Ipaja, Egbeda, and Agege under Ikeja Electric had been experiencing blackouts since Monday.

“We have received complaints from customers in these areas that they have been in total darkness for days now.

“It seems the DisCo is only interested in collecting bills from customers without improving supply,” he said.

On his part, Mr. Adeola Samuel-Ilori, National Coordinator, All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum, said power generation was yet to peak in the country following weeks of instability.

He explained that the drop in power generation was responsible for the poor supply of power to customers by the DisCos.

According to him, the frequent collapse of the grid is due to the decay in transmission infrastructure which needs to be addressed urgently by the government