Hundreds of women from Ifesowapo, Irewolede, and Ifesokan communities in Imowo Nla, Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, on Tuesday staged a protest against what they described as a prolonged and unbearable power outage affecting their area.
The protesters stormed the Omitoro, Ikorodu Business District office of Ikeja Electric, where they barricaded the entrance, locked the gates, and halted all movement in and out of the premises for several hours.
Carrying placards with messages such as “Restore our light,” “Give us our transformer,” and “Enough is enough,” the women demanded immediate action to restore electricity to their communities, saying the blackout had crippled businesses and daily life.
According to residents, the outage began several months ago after the only transformer serving the area developed a fault and was taken away by Ikeja Electric for repairs but was never returned.
Repeated appeals to the company, they said, had produced no meaningful response.
The leader of the protest, Bisi Oluwo, accused the electricity distribution company of neglect and insincerity, explaining that community leaders had held several meetings with officials without results.
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She said the continued blackout had destroyed livelihoods and increased the burden of running generators for those who could afford fuel.
Another protester, a frozen food seller identified as Teju, lamented that her goods had spoiled due to the lack of power, adding that many small business owners were suffering heavy losses.
During the protest, some Ikeja Electric officials attempted to address the crowd but were initially prevented from leaving the premises as the women insisted on a clear timeline for the return of the transformer.
Police officers from the Igbogbo Division later arrived at the scene and intervened, appealing for calm and urging the protesters to reopen the office gates.
After negotiations, calm was restored when the company assured residents that the faulty transformer would be repaired and returned within two weeks.
The protesters eventually dispersed after the assurance, though many warned that they would resume their action if the promise was not fulfilled.
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