Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, felt the pains of Nigerians battling to survive during this lockdown period, which was occasioned by the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as one of its worker Olajide Ayorinde, attached to the Imo unit in Abeokuta, Ogun State, was stabbed on his eyes by irate residents.
Residents of Isale Igbein/Grammar School area of Abeokuta attacked Ayorinde with bottle on Thursday, April 23, for distributing electricity bills during lockdown.
Olajide was made a scapegoat for a bottled anger of the residents against the power distribution firm.
That Thursday, Olajide wouldn’t have embarked on the assignment of distributing electricity bills to the customers if he was aware that troubled lurked around for him in the neighbourhood.
The incident was disturbing as he was not only beaten, but also stabbed in the eye with a broken bottle by the irate residents.
Coincidentally, the area is adjacent to the Government House, Oke-Igbein and close to Sapon, a popular market in Abeokuta.
The area is known as Isale-Igbein/Grammar School and share boundary with Isabo, Igbore, Oke-Igbein, Imo and Sapon.
Currently, some parts of the state are in the grip of robbers hiding under the lockdown to perpetrate evil. There had been complaints from residents in that regard. To lessen the lockdown effects on Nigerians, the Federal Government proposed free electricity for two months but it had yet to see the light of the day.
As many residents were indoors attending to their personal issues, Olajide emerged with bulky electricity bills and started distributing them to the dwellers, warning them of a looming disconnection if the bills weren’t paid early.
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He was allegedly pelted with stones while some furious residents pursued him with bottles and stabbed him in his left eye.
When our correspondent visited the area, it was observed that the electricity company had disconnected the area from power supply.
It was learnt that officials of the IBEDC enlisted the services of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad while disconnecting the area from electricity after the attack on Olajide.
Speaking with our correspondent, some of the residents lamented that both the IBEDC and its workers annoyed them.
One of them, Mrs Olanike Adeyemi, said everybody was angry with the situation of things in the country which led to the beating of the IBEDC official.
Adeyemi said, “We appeal to the government to assist us to solve the electricity issue because it is useful to us especially during lockdown. But since they have removed the cutout, we are unable to sleep at night because of the heat.’’
Another inhabitant of the area, Kolade Ajayi, said the beating of the employee was caused by the information they got that the Federal Government promised free electricity for two months (March and April) during the lockdown.
He said “What we heard was that we will not pay electricity for two months. We did not collect any bill last month (March). The man was not a worker with the IBEDC. He is someone that always comes to the area drunk. He had been arrested before when he went to a house using prepaid meter and asked the occupant to pay for electricity or his line would be disconnected.
“That action annoyed the owner of the house annoyed and got him arrested. That guy has been a problem in our community. He has turned himself to a god. Government cannot lock us down at home and still not give us electricity.”
For Adekoya Abisoye, both the IBEDC official and his attackers were at fault.
He stated, “We are not disputing the fact that he is an IBEDC official. But those that came with him were not IBEDC workers. Everyone is angry and you can’t expect them to just give you money in this period like they used to do before. Moreso, we heard he has gone to some houses where they gave him money before moving to where he was beaten.”
Some of them also complained about the disconnection of power supply to the area after the worker was beaten.
Abisoye said, “It is those who beat the worker that should be disconnected from power supply. They should not visit the sins of others on us. We use prepaid meters. We have no business with the issue. The most annoying part is that when they want to remove the cutout, they brought SARS men with them. We are not animals. They should not treat us like one. The government should intervene.”
Another dweller in the area, Mrs Bose Bayewu, said the beating of the IBEDC official was a mistake, adding that he came at a wrong time when everyone was angry.
She said, “For about five days before the incident, we did not have electricity. We just heard that some youths in the community fought with an IBEDC official distributing electricity bills.”