Lagos communities protest months-long blackout, barricade Ikeja Electric office
Residents Protest Prolonged Power Outage in Ikorodu
Residents of Waterfront Estate, Sekumade Estate, and the NBC Community in the Ebute area of Ikorodu Local Government Area, Lagos State, staged a peaceful protest on Friday to highlight a prolonged electricity outage impacting their neighborhoods.
The demonstrators gathered outside the Ikorodu Business District office of Ikeja Electric, blocking the entrance and disrupting access for several hours. They carried placards with messages such as, “IKEDC! You are meant to be an agent of light, not darkness,” and “Eight months without power is enough, restore our electricity,” expressing frustration over the impact of the extended blackout on households and businesses.
According to residents, power supply to the three communities has been disconnected since August 2025, following a failure of the sole transformer serving the area. They reported that despite previous meetings with Ikeja Electric officials regarding the issue, no substantive action had been taken.
Moshood Aderibigbe, a resident, criticized the electricity distribution company for not following through on their promises. “Before resorting to this protest, we held two meetings with Ikeja Electric officials over the faulty transformer, but nothing concrete was done. All we got were promises without action,” he stated.
The ongoing outage has severely disrupted economic activities in the area, forcing residents to rely on generators and incurring significant fuel costs. Artisans and small business owners have reported considerable financial losses, while families face increasing expenses for alternative power sources.
Tensions escalated during the protest when demonstrators requested to speak with the district’s Business Manager. Although the official briefly attended the protest, he departed without addressing the crowd. Calm was restored when a senior representative from Ikeja Electric spoke with the protesters, acknowledging their concerns and assuring them that efforts are underway to resolve the situation.
The representative explained that the repair or replacement of damaged transformers follows specific procedures that may take time. He noted that approximately 300 faulty transformers across Ikorodu are currently awaiting attention.
“We are making efforts to restore electricity as quickly as possible. It does not benefit us for customers to remain in darkness because the company also loses revenue,” the official stated. He promised that the process would be expedited and confirmed that representatives from the affected communities would be engaged on March 5, at which time a clearer timeline for power restoration would be provided.
