Agege residents protest poor power supply, cause gridlock

Some residents of Agege and Oshodi under the aegis of the Youth Alliance for Better Nigeria on Monday stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly complex to protest against “irregular power supply” in the area, alleging extortion by the employees of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company.

The protesters, who marched from the road opposite the Alausa Police Division down to the complex, caused gridlock as no vehicle could pass through while the protest lasted.

The residents displayed placards with inscriptions ‘Agege people are not debtors,’ and ‘Where are our pre-paid meters,’ among others.

They chanted songs to show their anger over epileptic power supply, prepaid meters and “crazy bills.”

The protesters alleged that workers of the electricity firm extorted money from residents of Agege, Oshodi and Mafoluku before the release of pre-paid meters.

The spokesman for the protesters, Moruf Adegoke, said, “We are protesting against the refusal of the electricity company to provide pre-paid meters. We condemn the lawlessness of the officials.”

One of the protesters, Yinka Adeparusi, said the protest that started by 11am with about 50 persons was peaceful.

He added that it was lamentable that no lawmaker had come out at about 12.30pm to attend to them.

It was gathered that the protesters later left the area after passersby pleaded with them to allow peace to reign by giving way to easy flow of traffic.

The spokesperson for the IE, Pekun Adeyanju, said the protesters did not come to the company’s office to register their grievance, adding that power supply had improved across the state.

He said, “We did not see anybody in our office. Generally power supply has improved though there are some challenges in some areas. The transformers will be upgraded in some areas to make the supply more effective. I am not aware power supply is irregular in Agege.”