Youths lament power outage in Akokoland

YOUTHS under the auspices of Akoko Concerned Youths (ACY) in the northern senatorial district of Ondo State, at the weekend, decried power outage in the four local government areas of Akokoland.

The youth, who called on the state government to come to their aid, also appealed for the intervention of all sons and daughters of the area, saying that the power outage had affected economic activities.

Speaking to newsmen on the development, the coordinator of the group, Mr Adedotun Olomolatan, condemned the attitude of political office-holders in the area towards restoration of power in the area.

He explained that community leaders from the four local government areas had approached most of the elected political office-holders without any positive result.

He attributed the power outage to the alleged huge debts the people owe the Benin Electric Distribution Company.

According to him, the BEDC charged the over 17,000 consumers in the area about N28 million, being the alleged amount owed the company.

Olomolatan noted that N11.4 million had since been paid but the entire Akokoland is still in darkness.

He further said that each house in the area paid the sum of N2,000 as requested by the BEDC to make up N11.4 million, leaving a balance of N11.6 million after an agreed 20 per cent discount by the company.

While expressing disappointment over the indifference of some office-holders in the area to the plight of the people, he, however, commended the senator representing the district, Professor Ajayi Boroffice, for donating N5 million out of the total amount, while Mr Bamiduro Dada paid for Ikun community in Akoko South West council.

“We are making this a wake-up call to all stakeholders, and office-holders who  enjoy the votes of Akoko people, to please rise up to their responsibilities and set a good template for the issues of power to be resolved,” he said.

The youth also called on indigenes of the area to attend the upcoming town hall meeting slated for May 29, to discuss issues that border on electricity and the general development of the area.

He said:  “We want to use this opportunity to call on all true sons and daughters of Akoko region and fellow patriots who are yearning for a better Akoko to join us in our struggle to restore light in our area.”