Electricity: Ogwuashi-Uku residents decry 7 years of darkness

RESIDENTS of Ogwashi-Uku community in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State have appealed to the Federal Government to restore electricity supply which had eluded the community for more than seven years.

Mr Sam Obidi,  a member of “The Forum’’, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday in Asaba.

The Forum is a body working with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to restore electricity supply to Ogwashi-Uku,

Obidi said the economy of the area had deteriorated overtime.

He said with the recent step-down of power in Asaba and adjoining communities of Issele-Uku, Illah, Ibusa,  the community would have had remarkable strides compared to when power supply came from Obosi in Anambra State.

Obidi said that while some of the communities had been restructured and reconnected and were receiving power supply, Ogwashi-Uku, Illah and some other communities, had been left out and every effort to reconnect these communities remained a mirage.

He, however, said that micro and small businesses in the communities had suffered great setback due to lack of public source of power.

Obidi said that there was no doubt that the economy of Ogwashi-Uku community, being host to a state polytechnic, would blossom, more jobs opportunities provided and criminality checked, if electricity is restored.

According to him, computer business centres, barbing salons, fashion houses, welders, among others, have suffered losses and some have closed shops due to the high cost of operating in the area.

“Those who managed to stay afloat  in the past seven years have operated at higher costs and charge higher prices for their services at the expense of members of the community.

“The situation here seems hopeless as most-recently repaired transformers in Ogwashi-Uku have been vandalised in spite of the huge sacrifices made by stakeholders in the community,’’ Obidi said.

NAN reported that an effort to reach the public relations officer of BEDC, Asaba zone, was to no avail.