Residents of various communities in Okitupupa, Ondo state staged a peaceful protest over 10 years of power outage

- The residents said if the situation persists, they would not to allow elections hold in the area in 2019

- The protesters issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal and state Governments to restore electricity to the area

A peaceful demonstration to protest against the over 10 years of power outage was staged by residents of various communities that make up Okitupupa local government area of Ondo state, on Wednesday, August 15, Sun News reports.

emizcrystalENT gathered that protesters, including artisans, students, youths and adults marched through major streets of the town to vent their anger chanting solidarity songs.

The aggrieved protesters vowed not to allow elections hold in the area in 2019 should the situation persists.

The protesters who were armed with placards with various inscriptions, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal and state Governments to restore electricity to the area or face more mass action.

They also vowed not to pay their taxes until the state government did the needful on the matter.

Wahab Muhammed, speaking on behalf of the protesters, chairman of Tailors Association, Okitipupa branch, said politicians in the area had failed the people by not coming to their rescue.

He said: “It is sad that our politicians from the Ondo South senatorial district have failed us. We have been in total darkness for over 10 years and they have failed to restore our electricity.

“We are also not happy that the state government has not done anything meaningful to address the situation. Henceforth, we are not going to pay revenue to the government.”

He also urged the federal government not to renew the contract of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), because of its failure to provide enough electricity for the people.

According to him “it is crystal clear that BEDC has failed woefully, despite the fact that we are not owing them, they refused to give us electricity.”

It was previously reported that the national power grip reportedly collapsed on Saturday, June 16, plunging the whole country into total darkness.

The Punch reports that all the nation’s power plants have been shut down following the system collapse.

The newspaper citing a top executive of one of the nation’s electricity distribution companies who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the reported collapse of the power grid.
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