Journalists protest against three months of darkness at Arepo Estate

Journalists and other professionals living in Arepo, an outskirt of Lagos State on Monday stormed the premises of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) to protest against three months of power outage and outrageous billing given to consumers in the area.

Some of the residents, representing the different factions of Arepo community besieged the electricity company at Alausa around 7:30a.m., carrying placards with different inscriptions such as “Fashola must sack IKDC”, “Say no to billing without light”, “Enough of IKEDC excuses”, and “IKDC is a fraud.”

Others included: “NERC, please come to our aid”, “Save Arepo from darkness” among others.The residents, who chanted solidarity songs, blocked the entrance of the company.

Though a peaceful protest, security operatives were positioned around the premises to ensure serenity.A statement signed by the President of Arepo Central Community Development Association (ACCDA), Kehinde Adeyemo said the residents condemned in strong terms, the total black out that has engulfed the community for the past three months and the continuous exorbitant bills sent to consumers that have no pre- paid metres.

The statement read: “We, the residents of Arepo in Ogun State, write to condemn in strong terms, the blackout that has engulfed our community for the past three months. Apart from the fact that IKEDC has refused to give us light since August, the company has failed to give us any reason whatsoever for throwing the whole of Arepo into darkness.

“Not minding the three-month blackout, IKEDC has all through those three months continued to send crazy, vexatious and provocative bills, based on unscientific estimation to those of us that have no pre-paid meters”.

The residents, however, demanded the immediate restoration of power supply to the entire community, deploy pre-paid metres and as well resolve all complaints on outrageous billings to customers in Arepo.The residents, further threatened to seek legal redress if the company failed to meet their demands.