Lagos residents protest ‘crazy’ bills, blackout

Lagos State residents living in Odutan, Ketu area of the state yesterday stormed the Ikeja District Electricity Company, (IKDC) located in Alausa, Ikeja to protest total blackout in the community, even as they rejected electricity bills.

The residents who brandished placards with inscriptions such as, “Say No Billing without Light”, “Fashola Call IKDC to Order”; “Buhari, this is not the Change we Voted for”; “We want Pre-paid Metres Now”; “Restore our Light in Odutan” among others called for urgent intervention of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola over what they described as inhuman treatment by workers of the electricity company.

They alleged that IKDC staff kept bringing estimated bills despite being in total blackout for over five months.

The angry residents also lamented that for almost two years they have applied and paid for the prepaid metres but are yet to get any after several months of promises.

Speaking on behalf of the residents, Mr. Ayo Badmus, 72, lamented that the residents were tired of receiving ‘crazy’ bills from the company, accusing the IKDC of being insensitive to their plight in the current economic recession in the country.

He accused the IKDC of deliberately exploiting them through distribution of ‘crazy bills’, even when they could hardly boast of two hours of electricity supply in a month.

“We are rejecting their bills. At a time when people are managing to survive, the IKDC kept bringing crazy bills. Worst still, they are bringing these bills, when we can’t boast of 30 minutes of power supply daily. This is unfair, inhuman and insensitive at this time when the economy is nosediving. We can’t continue like this,” he said.

‎Another protesting residents, who simply identified himself as Ade, said that the entire Odutan Community has been without light for months, adding that despite IKDC’s gross inefficiency, they are fond of bringing over estimated bills.

Ade said: “Why will some streets have light and we will not? This is injustice because we pay bills regularly like others. It’s disheartening that the bills the IKDC is bringing don’t correspond with the power supply in the area.”