Serving military personnel living at the Sam Ethan Air Force Base in Ikeja, Lagos State have been experiencing a blackout in their power supply, which has left them scrambling to find a source of water, PUNCH Metro findings revealed.
Although the community is intended for military officers and their families, civilians are permitted to own and operate businesses such as dry cleaning services, grocery shops, salons, eateries, and more.
While residents are complaining about the lack of water supply and an alleged overcharging by wheelbarrow pushers who deliver water in the area, business owners are lamenting that the power outage has disrupted their livelihoods.
A resident, identified only as Tosin, told our correspondent on Wednesday that her family had spent an average of N20,000 to fill their apartment with water since the blackout began.
He said, “We have been living without a power supply for eight days now. It’s hard. The food we had in the freezer got spoiled. We now spend money to get water. About 10 kegs of 25 litres of water are now sold at N3,500. This used to be sold at N800 and N1000.
“If we had a power supply, we would pump water and everyone would have water. But that has been taken away from us now. To fetch water now has become so expensive. The children are beginning to have heat rashes all over their bodies. We are begging those responsible to do something about it.”
Another resident, known only as Adamu, claimed that water sellers were exploiting the power outage to extort money from them and business owners.
He said, “We learnt that it was Ikeja Electric that came to disconnect the power supply. We have been paying for water since last week. And the people selling the water have seized the opportunity to hike the price. It was about N1000 before but now it’s almost N4,000.
“For instance, we have three big drums and a medium-sized one, so we will need about four of those water seller trucks to fill the whole house. This means we are spending about N16,000 to get water. Some other families have spent over N20,000 to get water to their apartments since the power supply was disconnected. We can no longer get cold water to drink.
“Businesses have been halted. Some of us who sell cold drinks are affected. You know how much it costs to buy fuel now. If we used a generator for the drinks, are we going to increase their prices or sell at the old price? Help us to beg them to fix this electricity problem. We are stranded already.
“The dry cleaners in the base are now using generators for their work, causing more pain for the businesses and those of us who patronise them.”
A young woman, Helen Audu, alleged that the base owed Ikeja Electric millions of naira, which resulted in the area’s electricity supply being disconnected.
She said, “From what I heard, we are owing Ikeja Electric money. Some people say we owe them about N150m. I heard it was more than that but that part of the debt has been paid.
“They lied to us that they would restore the light on Monday. Today is Wednesday, yet nothing has been done. Some people cannot even go to work because there is no water to bathe and iron their clothes. I’ve heard about three people turning in seek leave at the workplace.
“Some have lost their mobile phones while charging them outside. You will see more than 50 people charging at the same place. Some other people used the power on the street light poles to power up their phones. This is a serious matter that needs to be looked into.”
However, the spokesperson for the distribution company, Kingsley Okotie, could not confirm the debt or the reason for the power outage in the community when our correspondent contacted him on Wednesday.
He said, “I cannot confirm now. I will try to get what is happening. But even without that if you owe something and you don’t pay, there are certain obligations. If they tell you that they are owing, let them pay. But I’m not giving you details yet.”
The spokesperson for the NAF, AVM Edward Gabkwet, however, told our correspondent that the blackout was due to an installation malfunction, which affected not only the base but also several neighbouring communities.
He said, “There is a fault in the KVA. It does not affect the base only. It is affecting some parts of Oshodi, Shogunle and Bolade. They are trying to resolve it. They are working on it.”
