From Hameed Oyegbade, Osogbo
The management of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has said that the power outage in some parts of Osogbo, capital of Osun State was for safety reasons and appeal to residents to be patient and assured them that the issues would be resolved soon.
The Regional Communication Officer of the company, Kikelomo Owoeye told Daily Trust that the power outage was due to critical safety issues on the power lines which led to wire snaps and that such could cause electrocution of and kill unsuspecting individuals.
She explained that IBEDC was making efforts to resolve the problem with electricity supply to Iludun, Kasmo, Fiwasaye, Kolawole, Owode, Igbona, Surulere, Oke-Ayo, Sabo, Atelewo, Plantation, Arikalamu, Akintokun, Ifesowapo, Ife-Olu, Asoje, Mosadoluwa, Isokan and Kelebe communities in Osogbo.
According to her “IBEDC being a customer-oriented organization, deliberately shut down the feeder supplying power to these areas after due consultation with the community leaders, without minding the revenue loss that would result from this to enable the company thoroughly and effectively carry out urgent repairs on the affected lines.”
“As part of its responsibility to customers, the company engaged the community leaders and members serviced by the feeder to explain the cause of the outage whilst proposing a temporary solution that would ensure some supply, pending the completion of the repair work which is an extremely intensive and costly exercise.”
“From one of the many engagements prior to the protest, a four-person committee made of the community representatives was delegated to work with the distribution company’s technical team to conclude on load-shedding plans in order not to put the communities in total blackout pending the time the project is embarked upon. Unfortunately, the leaders reported back that some of the community members are not in support of the load-shedding proposal which happens to be the only temporary solution.”
The IBEDC appealed to those affected to bear with it and accept the palliative measures proposed for rationing power supply during the period of the repairs. The company cautioned those threatening violence to note that such cannot remedy the situation but exacerbate it by slowing down the process of the repairs.
