Sura Market business owners angry over Eko Disco’s ‘supply of darkness’, say ‘allow us purchase electricity elsewhere’

Tired of the epileptic power supply by Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), business men and women in Sura Market, Lagos Island have taken the battle to the doorsteps of the electricity firm.
They told EKEDC officials during a protest to their Marina, Lagos head office, in clear terms, that they were no longer interested in getting ‘supply of darkness’ from them.
To the owners of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) under the Sura Association in Lagos State, they will get better services from another distribution company.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of EKEDC, Mr Adeoye Fadeyi, pacified the angry protesters, led by Mrs Bunmi Ajayi, to no avail.

To them, enough is enough “because we don’t want EKEDC to cripple our businesses”.
The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as “EKEDC, allow FG deregulation to work,” “EKEDC is from public monopoly to private monopoly,” “Stop disrupting our businesses,” “Sura Association says no to EKEDC, we want IPP.”
The Sura complex is a multipurpose business community with over 1,000 shops comprising caterers, printers, tailors, producers of locally made gift items and other MSMEs requiring constant supply of electricity for production.
The Chairperson of the Association of shop owners at Sura Complex, Mrs Bunmi Ajayi, who said they had been battling poor electricity supply and exorbitant billings for years, explained that many of the occupants, who could not afford to run generating sets, had left because of lack of electricity which had killed their businesses.
Mrs Ajayi said the association was dissatisfied with the service of EKEDC and wanted the Disco to hands off the supply of electricity because the Association was about getting an alternative through Independent Power supply (IPP).
The Assistant Financial Secretary of the Association, Mr Kayode Okunola, claimed that EKEDC lacked the capacity to distribute the required power and should abide by the advice given by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), by pulling out.

At the initial stage of the protest, some officials tried to pacify them but the market men and women insisted on talking to Fadeyi.
After about two hours, Fadeyi emerged to talk to them.
He had thought their protest was because of the disconnection of Sura Complex from the grid but was quickly corrected by the protesters and presented with a letter containing their demands of pulling out of EKEDC.
Fadeyi thanked the protesters for their orderly conduct and pointed out that the Disco had no intention of putting undue stress on its customers.
He promised that the shopping complex would be immediately reconnected while the company would find time to resolve other issues at stake.
“We have found out that you have been disconnected, and I have tried to get the specifics of when, how and under what circumstances and what really happened.
“’We are a law abiding organisation and operate in an industry that is regulated and I thank you for maintaining law and order, you have the right to come here today and protest peacefully and understand exactly what we are doing about your power.
“For us, there are issues that are in court as you know which obviously I cannot speak about. There is no intent on the part of Eko Electricity, and I speak on behalf of the Board and management, to create undue stress or put pressure on you the customers. There are a lot of issues and one of the things we would correct right away is to make sure you are reconnected while we deal with the issues on ground,” he said.