Ikeja Electric Power Cut: Gowon Estate Residents Protest, Demand Manager’s Removal
Residents of ‘E’ Close, 34 Road in Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, staged a protest at the Ikeja Electric undertaking office in Ponle, Egbeda, over what they described as deliberate disconnection of their community from power supply. The protesters, mostly women, vowed not to leave the premises until electricity was restored to their homes. They accused officials of the Akowonjo Business Unit, including the Business Manager, Mr. Abayomi, the Commercial Manager, and the Egbeda Undertaking Manager, of colluding with private interests to plunge their community into darkness.
According to the residents, the officials are attempting to connect the Duplex Community and Church Village in the area, along with three heavy equipment manufacturing companies, without prepaid meters. They alleged that this arrangement benefits the officials through inflated estimated billings, while the transformer serving their community is left to be maintained with funds contributed by residents.
“The Duplex transformer is faulty, and Ikeja Electric does not want to fix it. Instead, the Duplex community, in connivance with the officials, after money has exchanged hands, threatened that nobody can stop them from carrying out their plan. Because we resisted, they cut off our light,” one of the protesters said.
Residents recalled that a similar incident occurred previously when their transformer failed, forcing them to seek temporary connection from the Duplex community. They accused the Business Manager of habitually abandoning faulty transformers, leaving communities to bear the cost of repairs.
They appealed to the Minister of Power and other relevant agencies to intervene urgently, alleging that their electricity was deliberately disconnected on Friday, February 6, 2026, knowing it would extend into the weekend. “We don’t want to take the law into our hands, but the Business Manager and his cohorts are pushing us to the limit. This conduct is likely to cause breach of peace and threatens violence in the community,” the residents warned.
