Residents and youth groups in Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State have protested the persistent electricity outage in the area, accusing the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) of failing to provide stable power supply.
The protesters, under the umbrella of the Nigerian Youth Congress, Boripe chapter, said the prolonged blackout has disrupted economic activities and daily life across several communities in the council area.
In a statement released in Osogbo, the coordinator of the group, Hammed Oyetunji, explained that residents had been experiencing weeks of erratic electricity supply, leaving households and businesses struggling to cope.
Oyetunji noted that the absence of electricity has placed a heavy burden on small-scale businesses, many of which now rely on costly alternative power sources to remain operational.
He also pointed out that students preparing for examinations have been among the worst affected, as the power outage has made studying at night increasingly difficult.
According to him, electricity is essential for economic productivity and public safety, adding that the ongoing blackout has slowed commercial activities across Boripe communities.
Frustrated by the situation, residents last week staged a protest at the IBEDC regional office in Osogbo, demanding immediate intervention to restore power supply.
During the demonstration, protesters chanted solidarity songs and called on the distribution company to address what they described as a worsening electricity crisis in their communities.
Security personnel were deployed around the office to maintain order while the protest lasted.
The demonstrators also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the electricity distribution company, demanding that their communities be returned to the Band A electricity classification.
They warned that failure to resolve the issue within the stipulated period could trigger further lawful actions against the company.
Reacting to the protest, IBEDC attributed the situation to challenges in the national power supply chain. The company explained that electricity generation has dropped significantly due to gas supply shortages affecting power generation plants across the country.
IBEDC further stated that the limited energy allocated to the company from the national grid, coupled with rising electricity demand in its franchise areas, has widened the gap between supply and consumption.
The company apologised to customers affected by the outages and assured them that efforts are ongoing with stakeholders in the power sector to improve electricity supply.
