Ilorin residents count losses, demand action over ongoing blackout

By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin –

Residents of several communities in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, are calling on the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to urgently restore power supply as a weeklong blackout continues to disrupt lives and businesses.

Since Saturday, July 19, areas such as Odota, Oko-Erin, Olorunsogo, Adeta, and Surulere have been without electricity, with no official explanation from IBEDC. The prolonged outage has forced many residents to rely on expensive fuel to power their homes and businesses.

A frozen food seller in one of the affected areas lamented that she had been running her cold room on diesel to avoid losing her stock. She urged the authorities to quickly resolve the issue responsible for the blackout.

Ms. Aisha Yusuf, a petty trader in Olorunsogo, said her business had come to a halt. “I can’t sell pure water or soft drinks because I have no electricity to power my freezer,” she said.

Similarly, Mrs. Blessing James, a housewife, expressed frustration over the loss of food items due to the outage. “You can imagine struggling to stock the house in this economy, only for everything to spoil,” she said.

The blackout has placed an additional financial burden on residents already struggling with the high cost of living, with many spending heavily on petrol and diesel.

Community members are demanding clear communication and swift intervention from IBEDC to restore power and prevent further hardship.

Attempts to reach Ms. Falilat Lawal, the Public Relations Officer at the IBEDC Ilorin Challenge office, were unsuccessful, as calls to her phone went unanswered.