Ikorodu residents protest 19-month power outage, demand urgent intervention

Residents of Aga Titun II Community Development Association (CDA) in Ikorodu, Lagos State, have appealed to Ikeja Electric and the Lagos State Government to urgently restore electricity to the community after 19 months of blackout.

The residents, who spoke to our in separate interviews on Thursday, said the prolonged outage had disrupted businesses, affected livelihoods and forced some families to relocate.

They attributed the development to a faulty transformer removed for repairs, saying repeated appeals to Ikeja Electric had yet to yield a lasting solution.

Mr Hamzat Abayomi, Secretary of Aga Titun II CDA, said the community had been without electricity since Feb. 25, 2025, following a fault in the transformer serving the area.

“Sometimes in January 2025, the transformer serving the community developed a fault and stopped supplying electricity to residents.

“Consequently, staff of Ikeja Electric took it to their workshop in the Oke Eletu area of Ijede for repairs.

“After six days, they brought it back and installed it, but it failed to supply electricity again. They later took it to the Oke-Afa Central workshop,” he said.

Abayomi said the situation had remained unresolved in spite of repeated complaints and appeals to the electricity distribution company.

“We have written several letters to Ikeja Electric, both its headquarters at Alausa and other branches in Ikorodu, Alogba Itasin in Ikorodu, the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) and the Lagos State Electricity Board.

“We have also had meetings with the management of Ikeja Electric at the LASCOPA office on two occasions. It has been promises upon promises,” he said.

The CDA secretary said the prolonged outage had imposed additional financial burdens on residents, who had been forced to rely on alternative sources of electricity.

Mrs Busola Oke, a resident of the community, said the situation had severely disrupted the lives and livelihoods of residents.

“Many landlords have abandoned their houses in the community and moved to two-room apartments in other areas where electricity is available.

“Families are divided, while some residents have shut the doors of their houses and moved elsewhere in search of alternatives because of the prolonged outage.

“We are appealing to the management of Ikeja Electric to replace the transformer if it is no longer repairable,” Oke said.

Another resident, Mr Gbenga Ekunola, said the prolonged blackout had negatively affected socio-economic activities in the community.

Ekunola said only a few businesses were still operating, while residents had been forced to depend on generators and other costly alternatives.

He appealed to the Lagos State Government and Ikeja Electric to urgently intervene and restore electricity to the affected community.

Responding, Mr Kingsley Okolie, Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, apologised to the affected residents over the prolonged outage.

Okolie said the faulty transformer had been listed for replacement, adding that the process would be completed on or before mid-September.

“The process will be concluded on or before mid-September.

“We commend the impacted customers for their patience and appeal for their continued support until normalcy is restored,” he said.