Felele in Dire Need of Electricity, An Urgent Call For AEDC, Kogi State Government Action

By Pst.F.O Fagorite.

For over three years, the community of Felele, strategically located along Agbaja Road in Lokoja Local Government Area, has been living in near-total darkness. What began as a temporary power outage has stretched into a prolonged nightmare, dimming the vibrancy of a once-bustling neighborhood and draining life from its streets.

Students, traders, artisans, civil servants, and small business owners,people whose daily lives and livelihoods depend on stable electricity,now navigate their days and nights under the heavy shadow of neglect.

A visit to Felele on January 14, 2026, paints a stark and sobering picture. Streets that should shimmer with light after sunset remain pitch dark. Shops close prematurely, homes fall silent, and residents move cautiously through the night.

Despite repeated complaints and appeals to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), power has yet to be restored, and no clear explanation has been offered.

Contrary to speculation, this blackout is not the result of unpaid bills; many residents say they prepay for electricity they cannot access. “We pay for power, yet we live without light,” Mr.Samuel Alao ,frustrated resident remarked, echoing a sentiment shared across the community.

The darkness is not with its sever social and economic challenges to the community. Some small businesses,the backbone of Felele’s local economy,are closing down or relocating to neighboring areas where electricity is comparatively reliable. Hair salons, barbing shops, frozen food vendors, welders, cyber cafés, and countless other enterprises are shutting their doors, eroding household incomes and shrinking employment opportunities.

“Running generators is no longer sustainable. Fuel is expensive, and solar power is simply beyond what most of us can afford,” Miss Felicia Adeyemi, who runs a saloon explained.

Economic experts observe that with each business that leaves, the community’s lifeblood fades further.

Residents of the community also express concern over health and safety issues saying that this has compounded their hardship. What more,without electricity, boreholes and water pumps are largely unusable, forcing residents to rely on unsafe or irregular water sources. Experts warn that prolonged dependence on such water could increase the risk of water-borne diseases, particularly among children and the elderly.

For students residing in Felele, the impact is deeply felt. Once a convenient host community to the Federal University, Lokoja, Many say Felele has become a challenging environment for learning and living. According to them,night-time studying is hampered, phone charging is a daily struggle, and security fears grow with the darkness. Some students are said to be relocating, further sapping the energy and vibrancy that once defined the area.

Residents now turn their urgent appeal to the Kogi State Government, the Lokoja Local Government Council, and regulatory authorities, emphasizing that electricity is not a luxury but a vital service underpinning education, health, security, and economic survival. They call for a swift and transparent investigation into the prolonged blackout, immediate enforcement to compel AEDC to restore power, and preventive measures to avert looming public health crises.
Felele stands at a crossroads as the once a lively and promising community now faces the heavy toll of sustained neglect. Darkness has quieted its streets, shuttered its businesses, and deepened residents’ anxiety about the future. Without urgent intervention, the risk of deepening poverty, social dislocation, and health crises looms large. The plea from Felele is simple yet urgent: let the light return before the darkness takes an even heavier toll.

Nothing short of compelling AEDC to restore supply with a view to protecting the community from looming public health crises, is what residents plead for.

They expressed grave concern that once lively and promising, Felele is slowly fading under the weight of neglect. Streets fall silent at night, businesses remain shuttered, and residents live with growing frustration and fear.

Unless urgent steps are taken, residents warn that the darkness hovering over most parts of Felele may soon give way to disease outbreaks, deeper poverty and social dislocation.
For now, the message from Felele is clear and urgent:
Light must return — before the darkness consumes all.
Pst. Fagorite, a journalist, JP,is also of The Apostolic Church, Felele PH 2.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.