By Adebowale Adebukola, Jamiu Ganiyu
Since the midnight of Tuesday 13th August, while people across the nation were still enjoying the public holiday declared by the federal government in commemoration of the just concluded Eid-il-Kabir with their families, it has been a serious nightmare for the people of Owode-Ede area of Osun State as they were denied of the reasonable steady power supply that Nigerians enjoys during such festivals as the fringe town has been in total darkness for five days today.
An investigation by osun.life revealed that the blackout was as a result of the collapse of two electric poles as a result of an accident caused by a bus traveling back from Osogbo after the Ileya festival.
The blackout which affected virtually all parts of Owoede-Ede only excluded the residents connected with the high tension wire that serves State secretariat and some part of Zone 11, the office of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police both in Abeere-Ede, area of Osun State.
Since the blackout, things have not been the same for the residents of the area most especially those who use MTN network because once there is no power supply for 24hours, MTN users would be out of network until power is restored.
Residents have however continued to plead with the management of Ibadan Electricity Company (IBEDC) to quickly come to their rescue by fixing the problem because of the negative impact it has caused for them including business owners who rely so much on it for their daily activities.
One of the residents who spoke with osun. life correspondent, Mr. Sola Ogunniyi, said that the light issue is seriously affecting the business activities of the area and other domestic assignments.
“Please IBEDC should help us out because we thought at first that it was a minor problem until three days passing without any show-up. They should fix it on time because most of us depend on light for sustenance ” He said.
In the same vein, a resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “I observed they took the light off during the midnight maybe around 4am or so. We were all thinking it was their usual load shelving but when I came back later in the day yet there was no light, I had to ask a neighbour who now told me about a vehicle that hit high tension wires. It has not been easy I must confess, I had to find alternative to charge my phone at work and sometimes at mosque when I get home”.
He appealed to IBEDC to double their effort as he said they will still bring bill at the end of the month, so why not enjoy part of our money a bit, he concluded.
osun.life, however, reached out to the Spokesperson for IBEDC in Osun State, Mrs. Kikelomo Owoeye while giving her account of the story said, “A vehicle hit four poles and they are High tension poles. But we have been working on getting another pole and reinstalling them. So our technical team is working on it by this evening it will be restored.
“Twenty-one (21) distribution transformers were affected which results to the blackout because lots of equipment were needed for the repairs which we have been working on and we have gotten and the work should be completed today”, she concluded.
Based on IBEDC assurance, it is expected that the residents would have their power restored in no distance time.