Residents of Lagos and Ogun states have lamented worsening electricity supply in their communities, saying prolonged blackouts have made life increasingly difficult amid rising temperatures.
The development has triggered protests in parts of Lagos, with hundreds of residents of Somolu taking to the streets on Thursday to demand the immediate restoration of electricity.
The protesters, seen in a viral video, marched through the streets chanting, “They want to kill us with heat; we will not allow heat to kill us.” Some also carried placards with inscriptions such as “Give us light” and “Our businesses are dying.”
The protest came barely two days after residents of Lagos Island staged a similar demonstration over persistent power outages and the unbearable heat.
Across several communities, residents said electricity supply had deteriorated significantly, with some areas experiencing outages lasting days and, in certain cases, weeks.
A factory worker, Tolani Adewunmi, who lives in Berger and works in Ikeja, said the situation had disrupted her sleep and daily routine.
She lamented that her neighbourhood, which previously enjoyed about 20 hours of uninterrupted electricity, now struggled to get even three hours of supply.
According to her, the intense heat has made sleeping difficult, with residents waking up drenched in sweat.
A Somolu resident, Ahmed, said electricity supply in his community had dropped from about 10 hours daily to less than 40 minutes at a stretch.
He warned that the situation was affecting businesses and could expose children and other vulnerable residents to health risks.
In Ewupe, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, a resident, Abdulsalam Balikis, rated electricity supply in her area four out of 10, saying residents sometimes went an entire day without power.
She added that the outages had made it difficult to charge phones and pump water.
Similarly, a resident of Ifako-Ijaiye, Opeyemi, said her neighbourhood had experienced almost a week without electricity, with the last supply lasting barely an hour.
She explained that the situation had forced her to stop storing food in her freezer, opting instead to cook only what her household could consume daily.
An elderly resident of Isolo, Mrs Siyanbade, said her community had been without electricity for more than two weeks, forcing her to rely on commercial charging centres.
She also lamented the additional cost of buying petrol to power generators for pumping water, saying the situation had made household activities and preparing children for school increasingly difficult.
In Ikorodu, a corps member, Olamiposi Yetunde, said electricity supply had been disrupted for more than two months, affecting her ability to preserve food, charge devices and iron her clothes.
She appealed to the authorities to urgently address the situation, describing the experience of living without electricity in Lagos as frustrating.
An accountant residing in Journalist Estate Phase 1, Arepo, Anawo Victor, rated electricity supply in his area 15 out of 100.
He said residents previously enjoyed between 20 and 22 hours of electricity daily but now sometimes went two days without supply.
Victor disclosed that he spent about N10,000 daily on petrol to keep his refrigerator running and prevent stored food from spoiling.
Meanwhile, residents of Alagbado also reported a sharp decline in electricity supply following a fault in the distribution network.
A resident, Anuoluwapo Olurunshuye, said her community now received electricity for only about 30 minutes at night, compared with the previous 22 hours of daily supply.
She said she had resorted to purchasing a solar power system to cope with the heat and charge electronic devices.
She added that an electricity official attributed the situation to insufficient power generation.
Meanwhile, Ikeja Electric has apologised to customers on some Band A feeders after failing to meet the minimum daily electricity supply requirement of 20 hours on November 3 and 4.
The distribution company disclosed this in a notice published on its official X account on Thursday, expressing regret over its inability to deliver the expected service level to affected customers.