Osun Communities Urge Adeleke To Intervene Over IBEDC’s Refusal To Supply Power

Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has been appealed to by residents of people of Ifon-Osun, Ilobu and Erin-Osun in Orolu and Irepodun local government areas of the state to intervene and ensure that the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company restore electricity to their communities.

The residents’ appeal was contained in a statement co-signed by the Deputy Publicity Secretary, Ilobu-Asake Development Union, Jare Tiamiyu, the Assistant National Secretary, Ifon-Orolu Progressive Union, Femi Olayanju and the Public Relations Officer, Erin-Osun Progressive Union, Maruf Saka, a copy obtained in Osogbo on Sunday.

It would be recalled that Ilobu and Ifon were recently involved in communal clashes that led to the loss of lives and destruction of properties.

The development, Osun Defender reports led the state government to initially declare a 24-hour curfew in the communities.

The communities however alleged that the IBEDC Osogbo Regional Head, Oluwatoyin Akinyosoye, had refused to restore supply to the areas after the curfew was reviewed by the state government.

According to the statement, payment for power that was never supplied to the residents was demanded by Akinyosoye before electricity would be restored to the communities.

The statement reads partly, “Government should reign in the Regional Head of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Oluwatoyin Akinyosoye to stop intentional provocation and sabotage of both economic and social development of our communities.

“This call became necessary as the Akinyosoye-led Osun region has for over a week disconnected power supply to our communities, thereby subjecting hundreds of thousands who desire power supply for their daily businesses to hardship. One would think a reasonable head of an institution like IBEDC would join the government’s effort towards the restoration of peace in Ilobu and Ifon-Osun, but the opposite is the case.

“The most surprising aspect of the satanic act of Akinyosoye is the intentional provocation that he is hellbent on not restoring power in our communities until our residents start paying. We ask, paying for what we did not u.e? Or what exactly is the payment for? This is definitely an attempt to provoke us and we thereby condemn it in its entirety.

“We call on Governor Adeleke to use his good office to stop this satanic act. This act is a variance with his government’s determination to bring succour and lasting peace and progress to our areas.”

IBEDC Lead Media Relations, Busolami Tunwase, while responding to the allegations, noted that the company is always concerned about the safety of its staff.

She said IBEDC had held meetings with the representatives of the affected communities but the meetings have not resulted in expected results.

She said, “Safety of lives is paramount to us, either for the customers or our staff. We have met with representatives of the communities involved to find a safe means of continuing our operations during these turbulent times, but this has not yielded much results. We are still engaging with stakeholders on this.”