By Ayodele Oni
Residents of Irese, Aaye and Ikota towns in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo state have threatened to shut down the office of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) in Akure over the continued power outage in the area.
The three towns had been in ‘total blackout’ since February 2022; paralysing the economic, commercial, and social activities of residents in the communities.
With the 10-month-old blackout, many business owners in the three affected towns have shut down their shops while artisans who depend on electricity to survive their trades have continued to relocate from the communities.
In a protest letter addressed to the Regional Manager of the BEDC, Akure, the residents complained vehemently that the power outage has heightened insecurity in the three towns.
According to the residents, several efforts to ensure the electricity company address their plight have been without luck.
The letter, signed by the Olurese of Irese, Oba Ahmed Destiny Saka, on behalf of the three towns, stated that the residents have no choice than to stage a mass protest to express their grievances.
“After exploiting all avenues of amity to bring sanity to our relationship by reinstalling electricity supply to our communities with no success in view, we have no choice but to organize a procession spanning protests to let the world know of the parlous state of electricity supply to our towns,” the letter read in part.
 in Akure over the continued power outage in the area.){kind=link}