Human and vehicular traffic was brought to a standstill for several hours on Monday as residents of Idokpa Community in Aduduwawa blocked a major highway into and out of Benin, the Edo State capital.
The protesters, demonstrating against several weeks of power outages in the area, barricaded the bypass, causing severe gridlock.
Travellers heading to northern Nigeria were stranded, with residents insisting the road would remain closed until government officials and media representatives came to address their grievances.
A resident said that the outage had disrupted local businesses and that the protest was meant to draw attention to their plight.
“What is most painful is that the neighbouring community has a steady power supply while we remain in darkness,” she said.
She accused the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) of diverting electricity meant for their area.
“We are protesting because the power outage has crippled our businesses. We are sure blocking the road will make the authorities pay attention.
“We call on BEDC to restore our electricity,” Doris added.
Another resident, Gideon, said the road would remain blocked until senior government officials responded and the media reported on their complaints.
“We cannot continue to live in darkness while others enjoy electricity,” he said.
Some travellers, including Hassan, who was en route to Kaduna, criticised the timing of the protest, saying it caused unnecessary delays for long-distance commuters.
A BEDC official, denied that the outage was deliberate, explaining that a shortage of gas used to generate electricity had caused the disruption.
“The power outage being experienced in some parts of Edo is not deliberate; it is due to a shortage of gas used to generate power,” the official said.