Lagos Air Force Base reels under prolonged power blackout, residents lament high cost of patronising water vendors
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Officers and other residents of Sam Ethnan Air Force Base, Ikeja, Lagos are lamenting a power blackout that has lasted more than 12 hours, grounded businesses, and caused water scarcity in the barracks.
The residents said the prolonged power cut has forced them to patronise cart-pushing water vendors at exorbitant prices.
One who identified herself simply as Precious, narrated that small businesses such as tailoring, grocery stores, laundry, and other essential services are affected by the outage and forced to use power generators against the rules in the barracks.
“We have been experiencing the blackout for almost two weeks. The situation has not been palatable because we cannot carry out our trades again. I am a tailor and I cannot work because of the blackout, the same with others,” she told The PUNCH.
“Some people are now defying the order of the Nigerian Air Force authority against the use of generators because they have no choice. Essential service traders have also been affected and this has been recurring for a while now.”
Another resident, Tutu Adeboye, said water supply in the barracks is rationed to 30 minutes daily between 6am and 6.30am which is not sufficient for daily use.
“The situation is worse,” she moaned. “There is no water and we have to get water from these truck pushers for N4,000 per keg. The barracks authority only supplies water between 6am and 6.30am daily. For 12 days now, there is no light.
“This is not the first time we experienced a blackout but it seems there is no solution. The last time we had a blackout, it was resolved and electricity was supplied back on a ration basis. But, for two weeks now, there has been no light at all.”
A resident who did not want to be mentioned in print explained that the blackout was caused by the debt the barracks authority owes Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (Ikeja Electric).
She stressed that “what we learnt is that the barracks is owing the electricity company, which is why they disconnected the supply. The AOC visited the barracks recently, but nothing was done about the situation.”
Ikeja Disco Head of Corporate Communications, Kingsley Okotie, said: “I cannot react to it because the barracks is a military institution, and they are a separate customer.
“We have a procedure of communication when it concerns government institutions. If there is a problem, there is a procedure through which we communicate.”
The Air Force Base also experienced power outage in July 2024 which left the residents scrambling for sources of water.
The community is intended for military officers and their families but civilians are permitted to operate businesses such as dry cleaning services, grocery shops, salons, eateries, and other small-scale stuff.
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