Otuo (Edo) – Residents of Otuo Community in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo on Saturday protested over three months power outage and water scarcity in the area.
Some of the protesters told newsmen that the residents had been subjected to untold hardships since the community was thrown into darkness in November 2015.
One of the residents, Mr Monday Asien , said life was unbearable for them without electricity.
“As one of the leaders in the community, we have written several letters of appeal to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to make sure that we have light but to no avail,” he said.
Another resident, Mrs Grace Oforumeh, said that BEDC had not shown enough commitment to restoring power to the community in spite of several appeals.
“The power issue with our community has been for three months. The suffering in this community is too much as we cannot get petrol to buy to power our generators,” he said.
Also Mr Friday Ilueb, another resident, said that the BEDC officials angrily disconnected them when residents refused to pay due to alleged over-billing.
While expressing concern over water scarcity, a resident of the community, Mr Hakeem Ivbairo, said that the situation had compelled them to travel long distances in search of water daily.
“We are appealing to government to repair the boreholes to avert possible outbreak of water borne diseases in the area,” he said.
Most of the boreholes constructed by the lawmaker representing Owan Federal Constituency, Mr Pally Iriase, have stopped working since November 2015.
Reacting to the situation, the Chairman of Owan East local council, Mr Jomoh Ijegbai, blamed the water situation in the community on vandals that destroyed its overhead tank.
“Plans have been made to salvage the situation. I must plead with the people to always protect these properties from vandals to enjoy the gains of such projects,” he said.
