JOS Disco distances self from Otukpo-Obi crisis

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By Sunday Ogli, Makurdi

THE management of Jos Electricity Distribution Company, JED, Plc, has stated that the crisis between Idoma and Igede youths of Otukpo and Obi Local Government Areas respectively, was not triggered by its operations.

Recall that a bloody crisis between some youths of the above two local government areas on Monday reportedly led to the death of three persons while several houses were said to have been razed down at Otobi Ipakangwu in Otukpo.

JED’s Head, Corporate Communications, Dr. Adakole Elijah, in a statement made available to newsmen in Makurdi on Wednesday, said the fact that it carried out its duty by isolating Oju, Ado, Ugbokolo and Ankpa legs of its operation to attend to faults occasioned by windstorm and heavy downpour last weekend in Otukpo and its environs do not make it culpable.

Dr. Elijah said for that purpose the company had installed Isolators at Otobi Akangwu, Adum-East and Deeper Life Camp in Oju so that whenever there are faults the Isolators will be opened to enable the technical staff of the company trace the faults and attend to them expeditiously.

“This was the case when our installations were greatly damaged by a windstorm occasioned by a heavy downpour last weekend in Otukpo and its environs.

“The destruction put the entire Otukpo axis of our operations into darkness which necessitated us to isolate the Oju, Ado, Ugbokolo, and Ankpa legs of our operations to enable us to attend to these faults to restore supply to our customers.

“The entire Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to resolving the faults and restoring the power supply to Otukpo town.

“On Monday, our crew proceeded to fault tracing on Otobi Ipakangwu – Obi, Oju routes when they were told to go back that youth from Obi Local Government have been mobilized to go and destroy the Isolator situated in Otobi Ipakangwu.

“It was the attempts to destroy the Isolator by the Igede youth and the resistance by the Otobi Ipakangwu youth that led to the crisis as the Igede youth insisted that the Isolator must be destroyed,” Dr. Elijah explained.

He further stated that before this crisis, the company was not in receipt of any complaint from any quarter about the lack of power supply to the warring communities.

“To the best of our knowledge, individuals and communities who have complaints about our operations were constantly enjoined to complain to the company via any of our offices or social media channels, but that was not the case in this matter as no report to this effect was received officially or unofficially.

“Given the foretasted, it is our candid belief that the remote causes of this crisis may be something different from the issue of Isolator or lack of power supply.

He, therefore, urged the state government and the security agencies to critically interrogate the situation carefully with the view to unearthing the real causes and proffer lasting solutions to forestall future occurrences.