Electricity consumers in some parts of Lagos on Wednesday decried power outage in their areas as the crisis between labour unions and Ikeja Electric (IE) management deepened.
The consumers, who spoke in Lagos, appealed to the management of the company to reach a compromise with the unions for normalcy to return.
Most affected are Alimosho, Ikorodu, Iyana-Ipaja, Ikeja, Agege, Ojota, Oregun, Oshodi-Isolo and Oke-odo areas.
Business activities at the Ikeja Electric headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, were grounded, following the protest by members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on March 7.
The members of unions barricaded the entrance of the company to protest against the sack of 400 of their members.
However, the six business units of the company had been closed to customers.
The consumers said that the crisis was having negative impact on their businesses.
Mr Joseph Adewole, a barbing saloon operator, located at N0. 15, Ladega Street in Ikorodu, said that crisis had made it difficult for him to work.
“My area has been in total darkness, I can’t buy fuel to keep my business on, the hardship is much and customers are not coming.
“You see, when two elephants fight, it is grass that suffers. Everyone knows that business is dull but the outage has added negatively to it.
“It is sad when customers come around and there is no power supply to give them the service they deserved,’’ the barber said.
In Gowon Estate, Ipaja, residents have been finding it difficult to get water as boreholes could not be operated without electricity.
A resident, who simply gave his name as Tobias, said: “There is no fuel to power the generating set, if you go to filling stations, attendants will not sale inside jerry can for you.
“At present we can’t do anything without supply, I have locked up my shop because I cannot get water’’.
Mrs Damilola Akinpelu, a frozen food seller at Itunmoja area of Ikorodu, said that she had suffered a great loss due to the outage.
“I bought frozen food worth N500, 000 on March 5 and kept them in the freezers so that I can sell the following week.
“The non-availability of power supply caused the items to get bad.
“I cannot sell them anymore because they are not good again, I tried to get petrol to power my generator but cannot get in all filling stations I went,’’ she said.
Mr Adebayo Shitu, a landlord in Igbogbo Street, Ikorodu, urged the government to intervene in the ongoing crisis to save the businesses of residents from incurring losses.
Shitu said that the situation had gone from bad to worse in the area, and urged the company to dialogue with the union members to resolve the issue amicably.
