Benin Residents Spend Yuletide in Darkness

Felix Omoh-Asun in Benin

Residents of Benin, the Edo State capital, will spend the yuletide season in darkness as power supply to the city has dropped considerably.

The supply which took a downward trend about three weeks ago has continued unabated as many parts of the city have been thrown into darkness.

Investigation revealed than many parts of the city go without power for three days running.

Residents of Idokpa Community in Aduduwawa on Monday blocked major highway leading into and outside Benin, in protest over persistent power outrage in the area.

They erected barricades on the bypass, which led to several hours of gridlock.

The community, a suburb of the city, along the ever-busy Auchi-Abuja highway, halted human and vehicular activities as roads were blocked.

The protesters noted the community has suffered weeks of power outage hence they decided on protest as last resort.

Travelers to several parts of the northern part of the state and Abuja were stranded as the protesters said they would not leave the road until the media and government officials come to the area to address them.

A resident of the community, who gave her name simply as Doris, said that the outage has impacted their businesses negatively and they were hoping to draw attention to their plight through the protest.

She accused the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) of diverting power meant for the community to another area. She said what is most painful is that the next community has steady power supply.

She called on the BEDC to restore power to the area as the suffering of the residents was becoming unbearable.

She said, “We are doing this protest because of the power outage that has crippled our businesses. We are sure that blocking the road will bring attention to our plight.

“We are that the power that is supposed to be given to our community has been diverted to other places and this is not acceptable by us. We call on the BEDC to reverse this.

Another resident, who gave his name as Gideon said they would not open the road until they were addressed by top government official and given coverage by the media.

He noted that they cannot continue to live in darkness especially in this season of festivities.

Mr. Patrick, who lives at heart of the city, 2nd East Circular in Oredo Local Government Area, told ThisDay that the area hardly gets up to three hours daily. “At times we go without light for three days.”

Mrs. Joy Omoregie, who sells frozen food at Ogida market, said she resorted to generator to power her deep freezer to remain in the business.

“We don’t have light at all. Anytime power is restored, it hardly stays. I have decided to use a generator to remain in the business because if I depend on BEDC I would have been out of business by now,” she said.

At the Okhunmwun area of the city in Ovia North East LGA, Victor Ojie sang the same tune. “One hour of electricity supply is a thing of joy for us here”, he said. “For days we hardly have light in the area.”

It’s the same story across the city, with many asking the reasons why the drop in supply.

When contacted for comment, the BEDC spokesperson, Mrs Evelyn Gbiwen, did not pick her calls. SMS sent to her mobile phone was also not replied.