The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ikeja Electric (IE

  • Flatmates assault two IE officials

    Two men were yesterday arraigned at a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly beating up two Ikeja Electric (IE) Plc officials for disconnecting their light.

    Godwin Owen, 42, and Valentine Brown, 38, pleaded not guilty.

    Prosecuting Sergeant Modupe Olaluwoye alleged that the defendants committed the offence on February 19, at 11:30pm, at 7, Bamidele Daramola Street, Maryland, Lagos.

    She said the IE officials, Abdulateef Lukman and Olasunkanmi Adetayo, had gone to the defendants’ flat to disconnect their electricity from the pole because they had not paid bills.

    Olaluwoye said the defendants, who were flatmates, were owing almost N100,000 electricity bill.

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    She said the defendants pushed Abdulateef off a ladder, and he suffered injuries in his legs.

    The prosecutor said the defendants also threatened to stab the officials with a kitchen knife.

    “My Lord, they beat up the IE officials to the point that they had to be taken to hospital,” she added.

    Chief Magistrate Oluwatoyin Oghere granted the defendants N200,000 bail with two sureties each in the like sum.

    She said the sureties should be employed and show evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

    The case continues on May 15.

     

  • Electricity consumers decry power outage in Lagos suburb

    Residents around Cement Bus Stop in the Ikeja Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have expressed dissatisfaction with Ikeja Electric ( IE ) over electricity outage in  their community since 2016.

    Chief Toyin Oko-Osi, Baale of the Community, who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos on Friday, said that the community had suffered power outage for a full year.

    “We have been in darkness for a full year from February 2016 to January 2017.

    “It took the efforts of leaders of the community to source for another transformer.

    “Shortly afterwards, IE started giving us outrageous estimated bills in the community,” he recalled.

    Mr Bunmi Olajide, an elder statesman of the community bitterly lamented the outrageous bills that followed restoration of power, saying that they were at variance with the volume of power supplied to the community.

    “Estimated bills ranging from N10, 000 to N30, 000 were being distributed per flat by IE, without the meters being read.

    “We met with the District Manager, Lanre Yusuf, armed with some copies of the bills and he promised to do something about it, but as we speak, nothing has been done.

    “In fairness to them, from Jan. 2018, power supply rose when cumulatively calculated to ten days, as against the five that was obtained initially,” he said.

    Barrister Abdulazeez Adeleke, a youth leader, said that the transformer did not last for long as a result of the carelessness of an employee of IE.

    “We know that every transformer has its load capacity.

    “However, one Engineer Victor came and began to add some extra street loads to the transformer.

    “Immediately we noticed the development, we called his attention to it and he said that he was to be held responsible should anything happen to the transformer.

    “As a result of this, few weeks later, we heard an explosion at midnight from the transformer and our ordeal began afresh.

    “We immediately wrote to IE intimating them of the development; reporting the self-acclaimed Engineer but to our surprise, we were told he was not an engineer.

    “The mini power station at Asade, a nearby community, from where we generate power, had issues which led to us sharing power.

    “An act which led to a power supply sharing ordeal of one day on, two days off,’’ he recalled.

    Mr Rufai Adewale, another youth leader, said that some residents of the community had made payments for prepaid meters with receipts of payments but had yet to be supplied.

    “Payments have been made for prepaid meters but as we speak, not a single meter has been issued out, so I wonder where the so called estimated figures are gotten from,’’ he said.

    Adewale added that several efforts had been made to resolve these issues but proved abortive.

    “We wrote to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and a panel was set up with a hearing date between our community and Ikeja Electric fixed for Jan. 24, 2018.

    “The verdict of the NERC was that those with working meters paid 100 per cent of whatever estimated bill was brought to them and those without meters were asked to pay 60 per cent of the estimated bills.

    “After the hearing, we urged residents to comply with the payments and they did,’’ he said.

    However, the next set of bills threw everyone off balance as we were faced with such obnoxious figures.

    “A flat was asked to pay N20, 000 and some others N30, 000.

    “A house with four flats would then pay between N80, 000 and N120, 000 based on the estimated bills.

    “How is that even possible in a residential area and not an industrial area?

    “We believe that the bills brought to us are outrageous and purposeful and we suspect we are being made to pay for the one year period we had no power supply to the area,’’ he said.

    Adewale called for a round table session where these issues could be ironed out and modalities for payment discussed.

    “We want an improvement in the supply of electricity as businesses, especially those that deal with the sales of soft drinks, water and frozen foods run at very minimal profits.

    “We call on the government to help us out. We would appreciate every effort the Lagos State Government can employ to ensure that this issue becomes a thing of the past,’’ he said.

    Mr Felix Ofulue, Head, Corporate Communications of IE, did not respond to several calls and messages to his telephone line.

    NAN

  • Ikeja Electric to list energy thieves

    Ikeja Electric to list energy thieves

    As part of efforts to curb the activities of Energy thieves within its network, one of Nigeria’s leading electricity distribution companies, Ikeja Electric (IE), has embarked on a network wide operation of naming and shaming persons involved in energy theft. This will be done through newspaper publications, other traditional and conventional media platforms.

    This is in addition to the penalties and fines levied for revenue loss due to energy theft; arrests and prosecution of persons involved in meter tampering, bypass, shunting, illegal hook-ups and other forms of illegalities affecting the company.

    Speaking on the exercise, the Company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue explained that energy theft is a serious menace affecting the electricity industry in Nigeria.

    In his words: “From our experience, while some responsible customers rightly continue to demand for improved power supply, a lot are unwilling to pay for such consumption irrespective of the amount billed. So in order to avoid payment, they embark on all forms of schemes to utilize electricity when available without paying a commensurate value. It has therefore become compelling for us as a business to curtail the menace by employing actions within the legal and regulatory framework available

    “Electricity theft is a major factor affecting the reduction of commercial and collection losses of Discos and this further affects their ability to provide improved services including the deployment of free Pre-paid meters to all customers, he noted.

    Ofulue however, appealed to customers to desist from such criminal acts, as anyone caught, no matter how highly placed, will not be spared. The plea of ignorance of the fact of tampering/bypass by a customer will not be entertained.

    “If anyone is in doubt therefore, they are advised to immediately engage their licensed electrical contractors to inspect the connections in their premises. Customers also needs to be aware of the maximum penalty provision of 21 years imprisonment under the Miscellaneous Offences Act”, he said.

    The Task Force is set to commence immediate operations in most parts of the network including Oshodi, Shomolu, Ogudu, Magodo, Ikorodu, Ikeja and environs. Customers can further visit the IE offices nearest to them if they require further clarifications.

  • Lagos communities decry poor power supply by Ikeja Electric

    Electricity consumers in some suburbs of Lagos State on Friday decried poor electricity supply by Ikeja Electric (IE) in the last one month in spite of proclaimed improvement in power generation.

    The consumers expressed their feelings in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    Those in Okota, Alaguntan and Gowon Estate areas the hours in which electricity was supplied daily had reduced drastically.

    They also said that contrary to their expectations, the reduction in supply was not accompanied by reduction in monthly billing by the company.

    Mr Godfrey Okoro, a resident of Okota, said the inconsistent power supply in the area had become “dehumanising.“

    Okoro further said the power supply to Okota had reduced considerably, compared to the estimated billing being brought by IE representatives, resulting in unnecessary confrontation between the consumers and the IE staff.

    “What is our sin in this area that IE always gives us electricity for just one hour? To make matters worse, this light comes in the middle of the night when we are usually asleep.

    “The company will not even consider the shortfall at the end of the month while distributing bills for the previous month.

    “This is injustice, we hope that the privatisation of power in Nigeria will provide results to the lingering power supply problems, but it is even worse now,’’ Okoro said.

    Another consumer from Gowon Estate, Mr Joseph Folorunsho, said energy supply to the area had reduced in the last two months for reasons IE could not explain.

    Folorunsho said, “It is unfortunate that we are experiencing this blackout; we pay our bills regularly, yet there is no value for the money we pay for electricity.

    “I thought the new government will bring us out of the doldrums but it appears we are being plunged deeper into darkness by the DISCOs.

    “It is so bad that you cannot buy food items in bulk to store in the freezer to save cost in this harsh economy, this is terrible.’’

    Mr Abiodun Yusuf, a resident of Alaguntan in Alimosho Local Government Area, said that the transformer supplying energy to the community had been faulty since February, causing irregular power supply with no solution in sight.

    Yusuf appealed to the company to replace the old transformer, adding that the outage had domestic and economic repercussions for the community.

    When contacted, Mr Felix Ofulue, the Head, IE Corporate Communications Unit, said the shortfall in power supply to consumers was due to the reduction in the supply received from the National Grid (NG).

    According to Ofulue, it is what IE gets from the national grid that it shares equitably among its customers.

    “Some may seem to get more than the others because of a combination of technical and commercial factors.

    “From Okota to Ikotun, cases of vandalism are very rampant and this is contributory to reduction in power supply to consumers in those areas.

    “In the last three months, we have witnessed more than 10 cases of vandalism in these areas,’’ the IE official said.

    Ofulue, assured the residents of Alaguntan that another transformer would be provided for the community soon.

    For Iyanapaja and Gowon Estate residents, he said the irregular power supply being experienced in the two areas were as a result of collapsed towers at Shagari Estate.

    “The collapsed towers at Shagari Estate have affected the Agege and Ipaja injection, and disrupted power to many areas within that environment.

    “However, we are on top of the situation as repairs are ongoing on the towers, it should be completed by the end of May.’’

    He apologised for the inconveniences caused by irregular power supply to all the areas, saying that the company was concerned and working to normalise the situation.

     

  • Electrocuted girl made excellent results in WASSCE – Father

    Deborah Faleke, electrocuted by a fallen high- tension at Fagbenro Street, Alakuko, Lagos State on May 21, had two distinctions and six credits in the just released West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results.

    Pastor Ademola Faleke, the father of the deceased, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that Deborah performed excellently well and her result was one of the best in her school.

    NAN reports that tragedy struck on Fagbenro Street, after a high-tension wire fell on the 14-year-old Deborah and was immediately electrocuted.

    “The late Deborah had two distinctions and six credits out of the nine subjects she sat for in the 2016 May/June Examination.

    “She had C6 in Economics, B3 in Geography, C5 in Civil Education, and C4 in English Language.
    “She also had C4 in Mathematics, B3 in Chemistry, E8 in Biology, C6 in Physics and F9 in Marketing respectively.’’

    The pastor, moved to tears while reeling out the result to NAN, said that Deborah had desired to study Bio-chemistry in one of the privately owned universities in Ogun, before her untimely death.

    I had promised to finance her education to her desired level then, Faleke said.

    “Now that she was no more, the result had become a wasted effort and her hopes of studying the course of her choice dashed.’’

    “My daughter was the Senior Girl in her secondary school during her final year.

    “She was also the president the school Jet’s Club and the Secretary of its Literary and Debating Society.

    “As a father, I had promised her then that I would try within my power to ensure that she achieved her education desire but the will of God must prevail,’’ he said.

    NAN had previously reported that Deborah had gone to stay with her cousin, Bukola Ogunbanjo, barely two weeks after she had finished writing her WASCE examination when unfortunate incident that led to her untimely death happened.

    The high-tension which belonged to Ikeja Electric (IE) fell on Deborah immediately electricity supply was restored to the area around 10a.m., on the fateful day.

    Faleke also said that the management of IE which was in charge of the area where the high-tension killed Deborah had only visited his family once since the incident occurred.

    “The management of IE visited my family once, since then my family had not seen or heard anything from IE’s management’’ he said.

    He also said that recently the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) sent its representatives to commiserate with him and his family over the lost.

    However, IE’s head of Corporate Communications, Mr Felix Ofulue, told NAN that the matter was being handled by its legal unit.

    He said that he would communicate whatever updates he had to NAN as soon as he it was made available to him.