Ekiti king leads his subjects to protest against poor power supply

The Alara of Aramoko Ekiti, Oba Olu Adeyemi, on Wednesday led his subjects to protest against power cut by Benin Electricity Distribution Company.

The traditional ruler of Aramoko Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State, lamented that the community had been thrown into darkness in the last six months.


Also at Erio Ekiti, the regent of the community, Princess Adejoke Adetoyinbo Ojo, also led her subjects to the streets to protest the blackout, which she said, had lasted for about six months.

The protesters blocked the busy Erio-Aramoko-Ijero-Ado Ekiti roads, which led to gridlock for vehicles travelling from Ado Ekiti and Ijero through Aramoko, as well as those coming into Ekiti State from Osun State.

The Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Kolapo Olushola, while addressing the protesters, appealed to them to clear the barricades.

Oba Adeyemi lamented that the BEDC had disconnected the community from the national grid without the people realising it, even though they were among the communities that paid their bills.

“The BEDC has not done well by disconnecting us without our knowledge. This unjust treatment is part of the insult and injury we are suffering in the hand of BEDC.

“Our request is direct: Fayose administration did it before. He connected us to Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), and we were enjoying it. We want him to return us to IBEDC. In terms of payment, we are among the communities that pay our bills.

“BEDC is cheating us. When they give us electricity for five minutes, they would have five hours in their record. We found that they haven’t got measuring rod in this area but they said they have a pool where they take the records from where they distribute the bills. How can we pay for services not rendered? That is one of the problems we have with them.”

While thanking the governor for promptly stepping into the problem, Princess Ojo said the communities had been “meeting and debating what to do because our people are agitated.”

“Erio, Aramoko and Ido were linked together, but to our surprise, we found that they had solved the Ido problem,” she stated, submitting that, “We want to be removed from BEDC.”

But the Public Relations Officer of the BEDC, Ekiti State, Mr. Kayode Ilori, said the company and the state government as well as representatives of the communities had started discussing.

Brown said Aramoko owed the BEDC a little over N132m, saying the community’s bill had risen to N74m since the take-over by BEDC.