Rape and myriads of other criminal activities have become regular features in many rural communities devoid of electricity supply across the country. Nights for the villagers are nightmares as they live perpetually under fear of possible attack by hoodlums. INNOCENT DURU reports that in spite of promises made by successive state governments to provide electricity in rural communities, power supply in remains a mirage in remote communities.
Many young girls in Kaani area of Khaana Local Government Area of River State, who longed to remain undefiled until they get married, have had their dreams shattered with indelible scars left in their hearts. On many occasions, the victims were picked up from the roadsides the morning after they were dehumanised with bloodstains and drained of energy.
The malleable ones are said to have become objects of unbridled sexual abuse at the hands of hoodlums who rob and rape them at will while the victims are searching for where to charge their phones at night. Many of the rapists, it was learnt, hide in uncompleted buildings from where they pounce on innocent girls that are passing by and heartlessly defile them.
Bari, a concerned member of the community said: “Many girls have been attacked in the course of going to charge their phones at night.
“The hoodlums rob some of them of their phones and rape them. You need to see some of the girls in the morning after the hoodlums would have messed them up.
“There have been several cases like that arising from our girls going out at night to charge their phones. Unfortunately, there is no place to report such incidents.
“Some of the rape victims are taken to the hospital. It is a very serious matter. Only God can help us.”
The inhabitants of Kaani have since it was founded many decades ago lived in total darkness. But for a few privileged members of the community who use generators as source of electricity, many of the villagers would not have had the faintest idea of what power supply means.
Rivers is one of the five biggest oil producing states in the country, but in spite of its wealth and contribution to the economy of the country, many communities in the state are still living in deprivation and want. Following the spate of rape incidents, Bari said, a town crier was made to go round, announcing that people should not go out anyhow at night.
Bari said: “You are on your own if you walk about at night. When there is darkness, who will secure who? I mean who knows who?
“Here, it is difficult to use a torch, because once you flash the light, you give yourself out and anybody anywhere can grab you. It is the torchlight that shows you are there.”
In the 21st Century when many countries have bidden farewell to primitive means of lighting the homes, the people of Kaani still go about with antiquated materials to illuminate their homes.
In an emotion laden tone, Bari added: “Many generations have come and gone without knowing what electricity is, but there is nothing we can do.
“I go to Bori to do business and return home to darkness. We use aboki light powered by a finger battery.
“It is only those who can afford generators that manage to have electricity.”
The military regime led by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) had raised the hope of the people of Kaani when the now defunct Directorate of Food and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) mounted electric poles in the community. But the project was later abandoned, dashing the hope of the people.
The incumbent River State governor, Nyesom Wike, as part of celebrations of the state’s Golden Jubilee in 2017, had said that his administration would embark on aggressive rural electrification scheme in a bid to revive the rural economy.
Wike, speaking through his Chief of Staff Chukwuemeka Woke, had said the state government believed that rural electrification was key to stimulating the economies of rural communities. He said that the state government had set up a high-powered committee to interface with a major independent power producer to electrify key areas and facilities in the state so as to ensure uninterrupted power supply to major businesses and government facilities. But four years down the line, little or nothing has changed.
A youth leader in Kaani, Friday Mbani, is embittered by the discomforting condition that absence of power supply has boxed the community into. He confirmed claims of sexual assault on vulnerable females in the community, saying: “When privileged people switch on their generators at night, you see everybody rushing to go there and charge their phones. But hoodlums are taking advantage of that to rape our girls.
“The hoodlums hide themselves in uncompleted buildings, and when the girls are passing, they pounce and rape them.
“The old people here, except those who have travelled to Port Harcourt, don’t know what is called power supply.”
He lamented that as a business man the absence of power supply in the area had escalated his overhead cost and forced many people out of business.
He said: “I have a business centre. I use a generator to run it daily and that costs me an average of N3,000 every day. We are shut out of happenings in other parts of the country and the world. Our health centre is down and so are other things in the community.
“We depend on lanterns while those who have the means use generator the year round. We have not even seen a cable before in the whole of the community.
“We even did a documentary recently where we pleaded with the government agencies to help us with power supply.”
Freedom, a computer services and PoS operator also bemoaned the absence of electricity in the community, saying: “I have to buy fuel every day. The PoS business requires one to charge the device every day, and that requires me to buy fuel all the time.
“People are not safe because where there is no light, darkness thrives. Electricity supply from the government is strange here.
“The children wouldn’t have known what electricity is if not for the people that have money to use generators.
“People are not exposed to modern facilities. It affects our people’s education as those who need power supply to study cannot do so.
“It also affects our living standard because people who have skills in different areas of life cannot do anything as there is no power supply here.
“Tailors, welders, cold room businesses, among others, cannot function here except for those who have big generators.”
Discouraged by the uninspiring developments in the area, Freedom said: “I have not seen any hope for our youths because successive governments have been promising and failing.
“There was a time a former local government chairman came to the community twice promising that he would provide us with power supply.
“They surveyed the whole place, giving us hope, but they didn’t do anything. Nothing also has been done since another administration came on board. Everybody has been struggling individually.”
Secretary of the Community Development Committee, Sir Fredrick: said: “Since the creation of Kaani, we have not seen power supply. Businesses are not doing well here because of the absence of power supply.
“You know that power supply has a ripple effect on businesses. It also affects security issues and there is no way you can eliminate the issue of rape from the problem of power supply. It is at a minimal level here and it occurs even in all places. Insecurity in Nigeria is everywhere and not peculiar to Kaani.”
As a community, he said, “we have applied for power supply but all to no avail.
“The last time the governor came to Bori, he said that any community that has not been connected should be given electricity, but nothing has happened since then.
“All I know is that the government has approved electricity for Kaani.
“We use generators and lanterns, depending on individuals’ purchasing power. Those who have no money are in perpetual darkness.
“It has generally affected employment and gainful engagement of our people in productive activities.”
Nightmare in Bayelsa communities
Many rural communities in Bayelsa, another top oil producing state in the country, have also been living in darkness since they were founded.
In 2000, a former governor of the state, the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, promised to supply the local government areas in the state with pipe borne water and electricity before July, 2001. The promise ended up as a mere political statement. Not even any of his successors, 21 years after the promise was made, has deemed it fit to alleviate the plight of the embattled rural dwellers.
“All the communities in Southern Ijaw, apart from Amasomma, that is the late Alamieyeseigha community where we have the university, and apart from oil companies that have supported some communities with generators and diesel, there is no light.
“If you go to Brass Local Government, which is on the fringe of the Atlantic Ocean, there is no national grid. If the oil companies do not help, the people will have no light,” Morris Alagoa, an environmental activist, said.
He added: “In Brass Local Government Area, AGIP is assisting to some extent. All the other communities are on their own.
“If you go to Ekeremor, which is far flung from the state capital, it is the same thing. The same thing is obtainable in Sagbama Local Government, Ogbia Local Government and others like that.
“Even if I give an estimate of over 90 percent, it is not a wrong assessment.
“We often describe it as a tale of two cities where you have the oil companies and the communities. You will see the oil companies’ environments aglow while the communities are in darkness.
“We thank God that both Shell and AGIP, which have been operating in the communities, managed to provide generators and diesel to power the plants. Throughout this year now, the community people have been saying the diesel supply was no longer coming.”
He added: “The Alamieyeseigha government promised in 2,000 through the Commissioner for Utility, Mr Gabriel Owodo, that the state government had made an arrangement that every community is powered and that adequate budgetary provision had been made not only for them to have light but also for them to have water, but all that went into a voice mail.
“The oil companies, that is why I said to a large extent, aside from the negative environmental degradation, their presence has been more visible in the communities than the state and the federal government.
“The implication is that what people are supposed to do with light in terms of business and all of that, they cannot do. If you don’t buy a generator you are on your own.”
Unlike the Kanni community in River State, Alagoa said rural communities in Bayelsa have not had cases of rape. “But in communities like Otuasega in Ogbia Local Government, when it is night, the people are afraid that cultists and thieves would start to occupy spaces, steal and do all sort of things.
“Like I said, we have not been hearing about rape, but the people are apprehensive when it is night and the whole community gets dark.
“Shell will soon give them light. We are working on the K2s Gas Plant. It is almost complete and they may all get light very soon.”
Lamentation in Benue
It is also tales of woe in Benue State over lack of electricity supply in the rural communities. In Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, which has 10 council wards, only two communities have electricity.
Obagaji which is the local government headquarters and Osugudu are the only places with power supply. The other eight have been in perpetual darkness since inception.
The district head of Odugbeho, Hon Bawa Haruna, said: “We don’t have power supply here in Odugbeho. The wire did not even cross this place as you can see.
“This has so many implications for us the people. You know what it means for any community not to have power supply.
“We are just managing life because there is nothing we can do on our own. It is people who have money to buy generators that enjoy electricity to some extent while those who have no money remain like that.
“We pay N50 every day to charge our android phones, because we need it to be on.”
He noted that the security challenges they are having would have been tackled to a large extent if there was power supply.
Haruna said: “If there is power supply, there would be no hiding place for all the local thieves.
“Nobody has put any poles anywhere here. Nobody has awarded such a contract to my people.
“Our present House of Reps member has been promising us all along.
“You know politicians, they will publicise the whole thing but it will not work. Here, we don’t know about cold water from the refrigerator.
“We have local pots that are made of mud. We fetch water into it and leave it in a room.
“The water from it is a little bit cold but it cannot be compared with the one from the fridge at all. This challenge is making many youths who are supposed to help in farming to migrate to urban areas.”
Primitive lifestyle persists in Plateau
Life in Ngar, Gashish District, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State is not too different from what it was when it was founded over 100 years ago. They have never had power supply.
But for a few privileged members of the community who own and use generators to provide electricity, many members of the community would not have known or experienced power supply.
Members of the community still rely on torch and lantern to provide light in their homes.
Deputy Imam of the community, Alhaji Umar Abdulahi , lamented the effects of reading with lantern on the sight of the children. Abdulahi said: “We have been applying to different organisations for help to no avail.
“There was a time the Chief Imam and I met the Vice President in Aso Rock and he promised to give us power supply. But up until now, there is nothing like that.
“There is darkness everywhere at night. We have electric poles but there are no wires on them. Our community is more than 100 years old.
“Our children depend on touch and lantern to read. Our joy is that in spite of the darkness, our community is peaceful.”
He said succor came their way recently when a non-governmental organisation provided them with solar street light. Unfortunately, the poles are not enough to serve the entire community.
Like people on a hunting expedition, members of the community, including children, are usually seen at night brandishing their torch and lantern at public events.
Oyo rural communities also in darkness
Oyo State governor, Engr Seyi Makinde, said in 2019 that his administration was committed to developing the rural areas in the state by providing electricity and accessible road networks to the length and breadth of the state. He spoke when he received a delegation from the Austrian Embassy led by Commercial Counsellor at the Austrian Embassy, Guido Stock, who paid a courtesy visit to his office.
According to a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, Makinde said: “We are very much interested in developing our rural areas and providing electricity in those places, providing access road to the rural communities, and it is one of the areas through which we feel we can expand our economy. So, I guess after this meeting, we can meet again to discuss privately on the projects.”
Checks around rural communities in the heart of Ibadan, the capital city, showed that the governor never meant the words he uttered in the presence of his guests, as the communities in question remain in utter darkness.
A farmer at Ladunni area, Lagelu Local Government Area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Ojo Lamidi, and Chief Sulaiman Akande in Abegede area said they never had power supply.
“We depend on generator for everything. I need electricity to do my work but it is not available here. I depend on generator and it is not cheap at all,” Akande said.
Ojo Lamidi, in a despondent tone, said: “We don’t have electricity, we don’t have hospital, in fact, we don’t have anything. Politicians come here to make promises but we don’t see anything thereafter.”
We’ve hit the ground running – Rivers govt
Rivers State Commissioner for Power, Damiette Herbert Miller, in a telephone chat with The Nation, said the state had begun work on rural electrification.
Miller said: “Presently, I am in Abuja and cannot call for the records now.
“I know that some communities have been linked up and some other communities are about to be linked up.
“From the period I came into office till now, we are linking up the entire Khana Local Government Area in Ogoniland.”
When our correspondent told him about the plight of Kaani community, he said: “If you don’t have power, what do you do? You go to the government.
“If they sit in their homes and expect government to know everywhere that needs power, I don’t think it is going to work that way.
“When they have issues, they should come to the government and explain.
“Kaani is part of Khana Local Government that the governor on the 15th of May called me to the podium when the Ogonis were holding a reception for him and gave me a marching order to connect the entire of Khana Local Government, not just a section, and that is ongoing.
“Documents have been prepared and soonest we are going to hit the ground running.
“No! They have not started having light. Taking power all the way from Afam to Khana Local Government is like crossing about three or four other local government areas to get to Khana.
“It just doesn’t start like that. You do survey, you do a lot of other things and begin to hit the ground.”
When our correspondent reached out to the Chief Press Secretary to Benue State governor, Nathaniel Ikyur, on Tuesday, he did not answer the call.
He, however, replied to a text message, asking the correspondent to call back the following day (Wednesday, from 10am) as he was in transit.
When The Nation called on Wednesday to seek Ikyur’s comment on the plight of the rural people, he said: “Let me call you back.” He was, however, yet to do so at press time.
Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Dan Manjang, requested our correspondent to speak with the Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy, Sa’ad Bello, when his comment was sought as to what the state government was doing about making electricity available to rural communities.
The calls made to the commissioner’s mobile phone however went unanswered. He was yet to return them at press time.
The Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor, Taiwo Adisa, neither answered the calls made to his mobile phone nor replied to the text message sent to it.
FG makes fresh promise to connect rural areas
After failed promises by the previous administrations, the Federal Government in September promised to take its rural electrification programme to every nook and cranny of the country.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this while commissioning a 100kwp solar hybrid mini grid and the modern market worth N2.2 billion in Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru Local Council of Kaduna State.
Osinbajo said: “There is a key focus globally on renewable electrification that we can take advantage of, especially to expand rural electrification in the country, to provide electricity for underprivileged communities.
“This rural electrification approach is laudable and I must commend the state governor for this initiative. We shall continue to expand the rural electrification.”
He said despite the passage of the Electric Power Reform Act in 2005, the activation of rural electrification was only commenced in 2019.
