01 August 2014, Lagos – The Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Festac Business Unit, Lagos, on Thursday warned traders in the area against trading under electricity installations.
The Business Manager of the unit, Mr. Abiodun Oyelude, said huge commercial activities under power installations were impeding the repair of the facilities.
Oyelude told the News Agency of Nigeriathat trading under power installations could endanger the lives of the traders and buyers, as any damage could cause serious electrical hazard.
He said, “A lot of people are trading under our network; some are trading beside the transformers and some under high tension wires. These traders should understand that underneath electricity installations is a no-go area; they should at least, give up.
“We are appealing to these marketers that for their safety, they should vacate the areas because it is dangerous to trade under these installations.”
He explained that EKEDC workers usually waited for about three days for the traders to vacate the area before they could carry out repairs on the installations when necessary.
“We often waited for these traders to vacate the area before the engineers from the unit could do anything. There was a situation where someone built on our underground cable; we asked him to break down the wall before we could repair the cable. We wasted a lot of time before the repair was done and the consumers within Festac stayed in darkness for days,” he said.