By Matthew Denis
Residents of about six communities in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital heaved sighs of relief as a one- month long blackout came to an end on Saturday.
The affected areas are Agbo -Oba, Lao, Gbagba, Airport, Check Point and Eiyenkorin, all within the metropolis.
Power supply was restored to the areas by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) at about 2pm.
The affected communities were thrown into darkness for about four weeks as a result of the breakdown of the Otte breaker facility of the Ilorin 132kv Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) located at Sawmill area of Ilorin.
Cross section of residents and shop owners in the area who spoke to Pilot Business expressed happiness over the development.
They called on the Federal Government and the power distribution company to ensure constant supply of electricity.
Earlier, a staff of IBEDC, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to press, said the Otte feeder broke down about a month ago and the power supply for the communities was transferred to Kishi breaker which also developed fault.
The source confided in this medium that one of the company’s engineers was electrocuted while working on the panel of the breaker facility at the Sawmill transmitting station on October 6.
He added that another set of engineers were deployed to the station while a new breaker was installed to ensure that power supply was restored to the affected communities.
In his reaction, the Head of Public Communications, IBEDC Ilorin District Office, Mr. Kola Asaju had given assurance on Friday that electricity supply would be restored to the affected areas at the weekend.
He said: “Restoration of supply will be achieved through the combined efforts of engineers from the company and their counterparts from Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) who were drafted to site to effect repairs on the damaged transformer.”
Asaju commended affected consumers and the general public for their patience, cooperation, understanding and sympathy while the power interruption lasted.
