Residents of Girei and Song Local Government Areas of Adamawa State shut down operations at the headquarters of the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC), barricading the premises and preventing employees and customers from gaining access in protest against a prolonged power outage in their communities.
The protesters, who arrived in large numbers carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs, said they had endured more than two months without electricity, accusing the distribution company of abandoning the affected communities despite repeated appeals to restore supply. Their action forced staff to turn back after all entrances to the office were blocked.
The protest took place in Yola on Tuesday amid growing frustration over the prolonged blackout, which residents said had crippled businesses, disrupted livelihoods and affected healthcare services, while students, artisans and other electricity-dependent residents struggled to carry out their daily activities.
The demonstrators further accused YEDC of failing to honour repeated assurances given during meetings with community leaders and other stakeholders, alleging that every promise to restore electricity had ended without any tangible result.
Insisting that they had exhausted every peaceful avenue to resolve the issue, the protesters vowed to sustain the demonstration until power was restored to their communities.
“We have lost confidence in YEDC’s ability to provide reliable electricity,” the protesters said, as they called for the revocation of the company’s distribution licence and appealed to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Adamawa State Government and other relevant authorities to intervene urgently.
As of the time of filing this report, YEDC had yet to issue an official statement on the protest. Security personnel were, however, deployed around the company’s premises to maintain law and order, while the demonstrators maintained that they would not leave until electricity was restored to their communities.