Some residents in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State have lamented the fallen electric poles and installations opposite Bridge, Sango-Ota caused by the heavy rainfall across the state on Sunday.

The residents who spoke with on Monday disclosed that some electric poles were destroyed during the rainfall, whose aftermath caused heavy traffic on the road, posed danger to the lives of road users and caused a blackout in the area.

They expressed dismay that the destruction of electric poles by the flood will affect the electricity supply within the area for an unknown period.

A resident, Olamilekan Olayiwola, said the power outage caused by the fallen poles and electric installations would hammer business operations.

“Electricity is not stable in this area. Now that this has happened, we may live in this blackout for weeks. As we all know, any facility that gets damaged in Nigeria hardly gets repaired quickly.

“There are a lot of businesses this damage will affect due to the power outage because this area is a commercial hub. It will be a loss for business owners. Many shops also use electricity to sell their wares and operate their businesses.

“I am scared to predict how long the layoff might take, but I am sure that they will not come with electricity bills until they repair it,” Olayiwola said.

Another resident, who simply identified as Adejoke, pleaded with the distribution companies that the broken poles should be fixed so that electricity could be restored to the area as soon as possible.

“There had not been a power supply for a long time before the rain started. So, I cannot say if it has affected the light, but till this moment, there has been no power supply. The poles that fell are many and now our fate depends on how the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company can fast-track the repair of those poles.

“Some of the electric wires are still on the floor, but the IBEDC officials are currently sorting and disconnecting the saggy wires so that they would not harm the residents.

“All I am interested in is that they should replace the broken poles and installations because they have not started repairing anything.”

A resident, Ileriayo Balogun, said, ”We plead with the government to help us with the repair of the broken poles so that there can be power supply in our area. People are mocking us on social media that it may take three months for them to help us repair them.

“The broken poles may be of poor quality because some of them were erected recently.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the IBEDC, Busolami Tunwase, assured the affected customers that power would be restored to the affected areas, but it might take some time to fix all the damage caused by the downpour. It does not mean there will be a total blackout.

“Our technical team is working on it. We cannot say how long exactly. It will be done in phases. But we will restore four of the pillars, and do another two or four on Tuesday.

“We have not asked any member of the community to donate or buy any pole. The ones we can restore today and tomorrow will be done. Later tonight, there should be power supply in some areas,” Tunwase said.

had reported that an eyewitness in Ogun lamented after several electric poles fell on the road during heavy rainfall in a trending video he filmed at Sango Ota Area of Ogun State.

In the video, about five electric poles were seen to have fallen across the wet road, as electric wires were spread across.