Power Restored to Ogun Communities After Long Blackout

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company has restored electricity to communities in Ogijo, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State. This follows a report by PUNCH Metro about an 11-month blackout that forced residents to become vigilantes.

Residents from areas like Freedom Estate, Seidu Central, Seidu Estate, Blessed Estate, Ifesowapo, and Agbajowa confirmed the restoration in separate interviews on Monday.

They said that after the report, IBEDC officials came to the communities, checked the faulty transformer, and made repairs.

Residents reported that power was back on Saturday after the repairs were done.

Joseph Olusoji, the Chairman of Freedom Community Development Association, spoke with our correspondent. He said that the return of power has brought relief to the community.

He added that IBEDC officials also promised to fix the transformer funded by the community. "We appreciate the management of PUNCH Nigeria Limited for its efforts in ensuring that electricity was restored to our communities."

"Out of the two transformers, one has been fixed and is now supplying electricity to our communities. The IBEDC official who visited us has noted what is needed to fix the second transformer. We believe the company will help us repair it."

Another resident, Alaje Ajeyemi, also confirmed the news. He said the electricity supply has brought relief to the people.

He mentioned that IBEDC assured them it would fix the second transformer to avoid overloading the repaired one and prevent future breakdowns.

"We want to appreciate the management of PUNCH and IBEDC for their efforts in restoring electricity to our communities. This has brought relief to us after 11 months of blackout."

"We have two transformers, and we hope IBEDC will fix the second one so that the repaired one will not fail again," Ajeyemi said.

Akeem Akintayo, another resident, agreed with what his neighbors said and asked for the second transformer to be fixed.

"We want to thank IBEDC for restoring electricity to our communities. We appreciate what the company has done and hope the second transformer will also be fixed soon."

Recall that PUNCH Metro reported that residents started doing night patrols to protect their neighborhoods after the transformer broke down and left them in the dark for months.

They had shared with our correspondent that the problem began when their transformer failed and was not repaired for several months. This led them to collect money among themselves to buy a new transformer.

They also said that the long blackout hurt businesses that depend on electricity in the area.

Angela Olanrewaju, the IBEDC Coordinating Head for Corporate Services, promised the residents that the issue would be sorted out when she was contacted for a response.

She also apologized for the long outage. Angela noted that a technical team had been sent to the communities. "IBEDC wishes to apologize for the power outage affecting customers in Freedom Estate, Seidu Central, Seidu Estate, Blessed Estate, Ifesowapo, and Agbajowa communities."

"The affected communities are served by the same distribution transformer, which developed a fault. Our technical team quickly documented the incident and began the replacement process."

"To speed things up, the communities have helped greatly, and we commend them. Our team has finished the assessment and identified the materials needed for the installation. We assure our respected customers that installation will start soon," Angela said.