Residents of FESTAC Town staged a protest at the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) headquarters in Marina, Lagos, on Tuesday, demanding the company restore power within 48 hours or face mass action. The community, represented by the group Take Back FESTAC, said they'd endured more than eight months without reliable electricity while still receiving estimated bills.
Comrade Valentine Uduebor, president and convener of Take Back FESTAC, told journalists the demonstration reflected residents' deep frustration after months of hardship. "This protest is not about me; it is about the frustration of my people," he said.
Uduebor revealed the extent of the crisis in personal terms. He installed solar power years ago to run his water pump and air conditioner, and bought a ₦40,000 prepaid electricity token over a year ago but hasn't needed to buy another because there's almost no power to use.
He questioned how EKEDC sustains operations when residents aren't consuming electricity. "How does EKEDC pay salaries?
How do they run their offices?" he asked.
The community leader appealed to the federal government, saying President Tinubu is making funds available for electricity improvement but bureaucracy is sabotaging progress. "Bureaucracy and square pegs in round holes are jeopardizing everything," Uduebor noted.
Residents had previously agreed to wait five months after EKEDC promised the situation would improve following a transmission project completion. Those five months have since passed with no improvement, he added.
"They told us to give them five months. We agreed because we believed them.
Those five months have come and gone, yet our people remain in darkness," Uduebor said.
The 48-hour ultimatum signals the group's willingness to escalate action if demands aren't met. "Forty-eight hours from today, if EKEDC does not restore electricity to FESTAC, members, stakeholders, and residents will not be held responsible for whatever communal inconvenience may follow," he warned.
Uduebor highlighted how the blackout has devastated the community, claiming they've lost a young person and destroyed livelihoods. Small businesses like barber shops and salons can't operate without power, yet residents continue receiving bills.
Chief James Ibeka, vice president of Take Back FESTAC, said the decision to protest at EKEDC's central office underscored how dire the situation had become. "For us to leave FESTAC and come all the way to the EKEDC office in Marina is a clear signal that everything about power in FESTAC has collapsed, 100 percent," he told reporters.
Ibeka noted residents sometimes go three months with less than two hours of cumulative electricity supply. The crisis has driven up living costs and affected healthcare, food preservation, and virtually every aspect of community life, he added.
