Artisans, youths protest in Ondo over ten years power outage

ANGRY artisans from Okitipupa communities in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Wednesday, protested over the persisted power outage in the area for the past ten years.

The protesters who trooped to the streets in their hundreds as early as 7:30 am, blocked all the major roads in the town to register their grievances over government insensitivity to the plight of the people living in the area for almost a decade.

The protesters, who are mainly artisans, such as welders, tailors, electricians among others, marched through major streets of Okitipupa, displaying placards of various inscription.

The artisans were, however, joined by youths and traders in the town, while they issued a 14 days ultimatum to the Federal and State Governments to restore electricity to the area or face more mass action.

Chanting solidarity and anti-government songs, the aggrieved protesters vowed not to participate or allow elections to hold in the area in the next year general 2019.

They also frowned over the attitude of the political office holders from the area and the state government for not attending to the power outage in the area which has persisted for over ten years.

The artisans lamented that most of them had closed shops while some of them had been turned to motorcycle riders for fear of staying idle, saying an idle mind is a devil’s workshop.

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They, however, vowed not to pay taxes or any levy until the State Government do the needful and bring back life to the area.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Chairman of Tailors Association, Okitipupa branch, Comrade, Wahab Muhammed, alleged that political office holders have failed to bring development to the area.

According to him, politicians in the area have failed the people, by not coming to their rescue, saying the whole entire southern senatorial districts had been in darkness for more than ten years.

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 ten years and they have failed to restore our electricity.

“We have made up our minds that we are not going to participate in the 2019 elections if our electricity is not restored. We will not allow them to campaign in our area.

“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.”

Also speaking, the Chairman of Electronic Technicians Association, Okitipupa branch, Comrade Tomisin Omosule, appealed to the Federal Government not to renew the contract of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), saying the electricity company had failed to provide enough electricity for the people.

Omosule said, “it is crystal clear that BEDC has failed woefully, despite the fact that we are not owing them. They have refused to supply us with electricity.

“We want the Federal Government to terminate their contract because they are not in anyway effective,” Omosule added.

It would be recalled that some youths from the southern senatorial districts of the state protested over the continued power outage in the area about two weeks ago, shutting down the Benin/Ore Expressway, over power outage in the area.