Ibadan Disco Disconnects 3 Osun Communities From Grid Over Failure To Pay Electricity Bills

The management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company(IBEDC) has disconnected Ifon, headquarters of Orolu council and Ilobu, headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area, from the national grid for their refusal to pay electricity bills after a recent communal clash.

THE WHISTLER reported that Ifon and Ilobu communities were involved in a clash that resulted in loss of lives and destruction of properties worth millions of Naira.

The State Government imposed curfew on the communities pending full restoration of peace.

However, the communities after the incident, suffered total black out. The management of IBEDC cut them off the national grid for failure to pay their electricity bills for the period.

The Publicity Secretary of Ilobu Development Union, Jare Tiamiyu; National Secretary of Ifon, Femi Olayanju and Public Relations Officer of Erin-Osun Progressive Union, Mr Maruf Saka, confirmed that they have been cut off the national grid by IBEDC.

They pleaded with Governor Ademola Adeleke to prevail on the management of IBEDC to restore electricity in their communities.

“Adeleke should reign in on the Regional Head of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Me Oluwatoyin Akinyosoye to stop intentional provocation and sabotage of both economic and social development of our communities.

“This call became necessary as Akinyosoye-led Osun region has for over a week disconnected power supply to our communities, thereby subjecting hundreds of thousands who desire power supply for their daily businesses to hardship.

“One would think a reasonable head of an institution like IBEDC will join the government’s effort towards restoration of peace in Ilobu and Ifon-Osun, but the opposite is the case. The most surprising aspect of the satanic act of Akinyosoye is the intentional provocation that he is hellbent on not restoring power in our communities until our residents start paying,” they said in a joint statement.

They added, “We ask, paying for what we did not use? Or what exactly is the payment for? This morning is definitely an attempt to provoke us people and we thereby condemn it in its entirety. Several thousands of our people are on prepaid meters and they have been added to the list of those facing hardship, despite fulfilling their obligations. We call on Governor Adeleke to use his good office to stop this satanic act.”

While reacting to the allegation, the Lead Media Relations of IBEDC, Busolami Tunwase, explained that, “Safety of lives is paramount to us, either of the customers or our staff. We have met with representatives of the communities involved to find a safe means of continuing our operations during this turbulent times, but this has not yielded much results. We are still engaging with stakeholders on this.”