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Irewolede residents lose property worth millions to high voltage

*We’ve corrected fault, says IBEDC

By Mike Adeyemi and Ahmed Suleiman

Residents of Irewolede in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State have bemoaned the abysmal electricity supply which has consumed property worth millions of naira in the last two weeks in the community.
Speaking with our reporter, yesterday, the residents claimed they have lost mostly home appliances adding that they have lodged several complaints to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Irewolede sub-station without any action taken to rectify the high and low power voltage supplied the area in recent weeks.
A resident of the area, AbdulAzeez AbdulRasak said, “I was at IBEDC office, Irewolede with my neighbours to lodge a complaint this morning (yesterday) but the nonchalant attitude of the staff we met did not help solve the matter. We have resolved that we will go to IBEDC headquarters to make our grievances known.
“This electricity problem has persisted for the past two weeks and had become worse in the last three days. The fluctuation in power supply has damaged my pumping machine,” he bemoaned.
Another resident who gave his name as Adetunji Sarumi said many people in the neighbourhood had lost their air condition, ceiling fans, Plasma TVs, refrigerator and perishable items to the development while urging IBEDC to come to the rescue of the community to forestall further mishap.
Similarly, a middle-aged woman identified as Mummy Arafat said, “The power supply spoiled our pumping machine as well as bulbs in my house. It has been a sad experience so far. I cannot put on my refrigerator and other appliances. Sometimes the voltage will be low and suddenly it will turn high. Some students around even complained that the poor electricity supply has damaged their mobile phones.”
Speaking in the same vein, another dweller of the area, Mrs. Joke Olayemi said, “Three bulbs in my house got burnt due to the low and high voltage we have been experiencing in the last two weeks.
I cannot put on any electrical appliances in my house,” she bemoaned.
Reacting to the development, the Manager of IBEDC, Irewolede substation, Mrs. Abdulsalam B.O debunked allegation of uncaring attitude levelled against officials of the electricity distribution company, adding that no one visited the office to lodge any such complaint.
“Actually we don’t know what caused the high voltage supply, not until I met a missed call on my phone yesterday (Tuesday) which I had to call the person back and he complained about the high and low voltage at his area.
“Immediately I led my staff to the transformer in the area where a minor fault was corrected and normal power supply was restored to the two feeders, except that of ‘mango axis’ which was not restored,” she disclosed.
Abdulsalam however promised that the ‘mango feeder’ will soon be restored to normal claiming the Challenge head office of IBEDC had been intimated about the development.
According to her, the closer a resident is closer to a transformer boot, the higher the voltage and volume of electricity supply.
Speaking further, Abdulsalam said there is an urgent need to reduce the load on the existing transformer by providing another one.
When queried why it took IBEDC took weeks to respond to the problem, Abdulsalam said it is not possible for the electricity distribution company to know when there is a fault, except residence of the area lodged their complaint.
She however called on residents of the area especially ‘mango axis’ to consistently protect property of IBEDC from vandals.

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