Rainstorm Plunges 40 Ogun Communities Into Darkness

A severe rainstorm on Sunday afternoon caused extensive damage in Sango-Ota, in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, toppling electric poles and wires, and leaving over 40 communities without power.

According to reports, the storm disrupted traffic along the busy Sango-Ota highway and resulted in considerable infrastructural damage.

Naija News reports that the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) confirmed the incident and issued a public notice urgently appealing to residents to avoid contact with the fallen electrical infrastructure.

The damage affected a vast area, with communities including Iyana Iyesi, Osuke Town, Egan Road, and many others experiencing power outages.

In their statement, the IBEDC outlined the scope of the impact, stating that “Due to broken poles occasioned by the heavy downpour at Ota and Mowe, customers in the following communities…are experiencing power outages.”

The company also warned against any attempts by unqualified individuals to fix the broken installations, advising the public to report any incidents to the authorities and await professional handling by their technical team.

“Our technical team is working to clear and replace the broken poles and installations to ensure power supply is restored as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience,” the IBEDC stated, indicating that efforts were underway to rectify the damage swiftly.

Visuals from the scene showed utility poles that had fallen on a variety of vehicles, including a long school bus, cars, trucks, and a tricycle, causing further distress to commuters and passersby.

Despite the significant disruptions and the anticipated duration of power outages, which residents fear could last more than a week, there was a collective relief that no lives were lost due to the incident.