Scores of aggrieved electricity consumers in Ilorin besieged the Baboko office of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company over persistent cases of cables pilfering and vandalisation of electrical facilities.

City Rove gathered that different communities from Akerebiata, Mandate One Housing Estate along Adewole area, Adeta and some parts of Adewole Housing estate have been constantly experiencing the problems.

They alleged that the perpetrators executed their nefarious activities with active connivance of some staff of the company, thereby throwing customers and affected communities to perpetual blackout.

According to the angry looking customers, the incidents usually occur in the night when there is power outage.

They also alleged that instead of the company to replace the damaged and stolen materials, they resort to advising the customers to formally write the company on matter before replacement could be effected.

The customers described such procedure as unrealistic as most letters written in the past yielded no positive results.

The customers also alleged that the staff of the company in most cases asked them to contribute money and procure the materials if they want to hasten the situation.

Miffed by the situation, the people of Adewole community and Mandate One housing estate stormed the Baboko IBEDC office, expressing their grievances over the rampant cases of cables theft in the two communities.

A resident from Mandate One Housing estate told our correspondent that this was the second time the electricity cables would be stolen and the community always took over the responsibility of IBEDC by contributing money for the repair and replacement of the cables without single effort from the electricity company.

The resident said they were tired of the situation as they have been in total darkness for the past two weeks, which prompted them to cry out for the company to rise to its responsibility before the customers take law into their own hands.

Also, another customer said this was the fourth time that the cables at Tafa Tafa sub station, along Lagos road, behind Midland Hospital, Adewole housing estate would be stolen and the community always single handedly took over the repair and replacement of the damaged and stolen IBEDC installations.

He stated that it was the proprietor of one private university in ilorin who lives in the area that dropped a sum of N150,000 for a repair the last time the cables were carted away.

The source frowned at the IBEDC for taking people for granted by not being up and doing in its primary responsibility, noting that they were only after profit making and over billing the customers for the electricity not consumed.

"The IBEDC needs to be very careful so as not to see the anger of the customers. I believe they are conniving with the perpetrators of this dastardly act, because the perpetrators always carry out the act in the night when there is no electricity, who knows if it is not the staff of the company carrying out this evil acts.

"This must stop. Some of their offices in other states have been set ablaze by angry customers due to this act, and is likely to be replicated in ilorin if nothing is done to address it.

" I want to tell you that a novice or ordinary person cannot have the guts to tamper with the installations of IBEDC. Why is it that they always carry out the act when there is power outage, and just imagine it was seven days after they stole the cables at mandate one housing estate that they came to Tafa Tafa sub station at adewole estate to steal the cables too. It means same people were responsible for this.

"When we reported the case to adewole office of IBEDC, the man in charge gave us the list of items to buy to restore our electricity and when we got to where to buy it, we discovered that it amounts to over N280,000".

Another customer, who identified himself as Hakeem, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the rate of corruption and rot in the power sector, saying that private organizations that took over the sector from the defunct PHCN, particularly the IBEDC has been making lives unbearable for ordinary people with the poor services of the Company and lack of respect for the customers.

He asked the President to reintroduce his War Against Indiscipline used in 1983 to restore the lost glory in the country and fight corruption and other problems hampering the development of Nigeria.

Our correspondent also gathered that the people of Akerebiata community experienced the cases of cables theft four times and had protested to the Ibadan office without yielding any positive results until the people of the community contributed money to fix the stolen and damaged IBEDC installations.

While addressing the angry customers, a senior official at Baboko office of the company appealed to the customers to exercise patience with the company.

He said the company was making efforts to repair the stolen and damaged installations, but added that it may take a long process and months as the office would have to write the Ibadan office on the matter.

The IBEDC official urged them to mount surveillance on the installations of IBEDC in their areas and also cement the cables to guide against thefts.

Another senior official of IBEDC alleged that some scavengers were responsible for the act, saying that one was arrested and hand over to the police around Oke Oyi area where some installations of the Company were found in his wheelbarrow.

The electricity company,which took over from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) after the privatization of the power sector by Goodluck Jonathan led administration has been confronted with numerous challenges, particularly the issue of cables theft and vandalisation of its installations like transformers.