Lagos residents storm IKEDC office over 8-month blackout

Residents of Waterfront Estate, Sekumade Estate and the NBC Community in the Ebute area of Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State on Friday staged a peaceful protest over a prolonged electricity blackout in their neighbourhoods.

The protesters stormed the Ikorodu Business District office of Ikeja Electric, barricading the entrance and halting movement in and out of the premises for several hours.

Carrying placards with inscriptions such as, “IKEDC! You are supposed to be an agent of light, not an agent of darkness,” and “Eight months in darkness. Enough is enough. Restore our light,” the residents lamented the hardship caused by the outage.

They explained that electricity supply to the communities had been cut off since August 2025 after the only transformer serving the three estates developed a fault and was not replaced.

One of the protesters, Moshood Aderibigbe, accused the power distribution company of failing to fulfil several promises made to residents after repeated engagements.

“Before we came out to protest, we had two meetings with officials of Ikeja Electric so that our transformer could be fixed or replaced, but nothing was done. They only paid lip service to our plight,” he said.

He added that the blackout had crippled businesses and livelihoods in the affected areas, noting that many residents now spend heavily on fuel to power generators.

Artisans, traders and small-scale business owners were said to have recorded severe losses, while households struggled with the rising cost of alternative power supply.

During the protest, residents reportedly insisted on speaking with the district’s Business Manager. Although the official arrived at the premises, he left shortly after without addressing the crowd, a development that heightened tension.

However, a senior official of the company later addressed the protesters and expressed sympathy over their situation, stating that the company was working to restore electricity.

According to him, the repair or replacement of faulty transformers follows laid-down procedures which can take time, adding that about 300 faulty transformers in Ikorodu are currently awaiting repairs.

“We are putting in the effort to ensure power is restored as soon as possible. It is not our happiness that you are in darkness. We are also losing revenue because of the situation,” the official said.

He assured residents that efforts would be expedited and promised to meet representatives of the communities on March 5 to provide a clear timeline for the restoration of electricity.