Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) has cut off the power supply to the Sam Ethnan Air Force base, in Ikeja for over two weeks.

This is due to unpaid electricity bills running into millions of naira.

Both parties have a prior agreement for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to pay a monthly bill of N60 million to the IKEDC for 10 to 12 hours of daily electricity supply to the base.

With the recent disconnection by the IKEDC, this agreement appears to have fallen apart, leaving the base residents in darkness for more than two weeks.

NAN reports that the prolonged power outage has become a source of safety concern to the residents, particularly because the base has an operational warehouse where high-calibre armaments are kept.

The armaments are said to be a high risk to the environment when the cooling systems are off for prolonged periods.

Other essentials like water supply and medical services have also been disrupted in the last two weeks due to the absence of power supply.

An inside source told NAN that the Air Force had kept its part of the bargain for months, but Ikeja Electric has been defaulting in recent months without explanation.

The source noted that despite being shortchanged in terms of hours of electricity supply, the NAF made the agreed N60 million payments for both months, even though no explanation or refund was provided for the shortage.

The source added that power supply to the Air Force base should be considered essential, not luxury service, especially when they were keeping to their side of the agreement, and described IKEDC’s deliberate power cut as unprofessional and inciting.

Responding to the matter, the Head of Corporate Communications at IKEDC, Kingsley Okotie, noted that the base was only being charged for power supplied under the Band A feeder and still had a huge outstanding debt.

Okotie noted that beyond the debt, the reason for the disconnection was to carry out installations and improve the energy supply to the base, the Guardian reports.

His words;

“Right now, they are not allowing us to access the facility to resolve whatever issues they are facing. The level of hostility within the barracks towards our staff is high and aggressive.

"We have had unpleasant incidents in the past, including cases of staff harassment. While we are willing and fully available to address the needs of all our customers, we do not want such incidents to continue."

He noted that several other military barracks within the Disco’s jurisdiction had been attended to, but the lack of access to the Air Force base prevented them from resolving said issues.

He called for a dialogue to resolve the issues and ensure that the IKEDC’s staff are protected from future harassment.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that customers of Ikeja Electric were plunged into darkness for days due to an inability to purchase electricity units.

The electricity company explained that internet service providers were the cause of the challenges.

Legit.ng spoke to customers who complained about how the situation added to the already difficult circumstances caused by high fuel prices.

Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

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Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng