A raging rainstorm on Sunday wreaked havoc at Sango-Ota, in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, plunging over 40 communities into darkness.
The storm pulled down electric poles and cables, disrupting traffic on the Sango-Ota highway on Sunday afternoon.
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company confirmed the incident, appealing to residents to avoid contact with the broken poles and cables.
In a public notice, the IBEDC said, “Due to broken poles occasioned by the heavy downpour at Ota and Mowe, customers in the following communities: lyana lyesi, Osuke Town, Egan Road, lyana Ilogbo, Ijaba, Ijagba, Itele, Lafenwa, Singer, Joju, Alishiba, Oju Ore, Tollgate, Eledi, Akeja, Abebi, Osi Round About, Ota Town, Ota Industrial Estate, Igberen, lju, Atan, Onipanu, Obasanjo, Lusada, Arigba, Odugbe, Ado-Odo, Igbesa, Owode. Olokuta, Hanushi, Bamtish Camp Lufiwape, Eltees Farm, August Engineering, Spark Cear Soap Ayetoro, Amazing Grace Oil, Christopher University, Royal Garden Estate, Pentagon Estate and environs are experiencing power outages.”
The DisCo urged residents not to tamper with the electrical installations in an attempt to have them repaired, saying its technical team was working to clear and replace the affected poles and cables.
“Kindly avoid contact with the broken poles, saggy wires or any other electrical installation affected by the rain. Report any incident and do not attempt to repair or tamper with electrical installations.
“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 apologise for the inconvenience,” the IBEDC stated.
Meanwhile, in a video sighted by our correspondent, the utility poles fell on vehicles, including a long school bus, cars, trucks and a tricycle, trapping them down.
Voices behind the video said in Yoruba, “All the utility poles have broken down. There is pressure.”
The residents expressed concerns that they would have to endure power outages for over a week to have the poles and cables fixed.
However, they expressed joy that no life was lost in the incident.
“This may take up to a week or more to be repaired. Thank God there was no power supply when this happened,” one of the voices was heard saying.
Earlier, residents of the affected areas in Sango-Ota had reportedly complained of low power supply since January 2024.