COVID-19: Ikeja Electric announces closure of offices to safeguard customers, staff

Ikeja Electric has announced partial closure of its offices stating that no physical transaction of business will take place across its offices in its franchise network for the next one week.

This partial closure is in line with ongoing efforts nationwide to prevent further spread of the Corona Virus/COVID-19 and protect customers and staff of the Company.

The DisCo, in a statement said the partial closure, which began Tuesday March 24, 2020 is part of precautionary measures that have become necessary in order to safeguard the health of customers and staff by limiting their exposure to COVID-19.

“The spread of the virus, according to World Health Organisation (WHO), is believed to be mainly through person-to-person contact which enables respiratory droplets from infected individuals who exhibit or later show symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, breathing difficulty, fever etc. to be transmitted to other persons.

“Meanwhile, the Company has reassured customers that services including supply of electricity to customers, fault clearing, online channels for purchase of energy credits and payment of bills are unaffected by the temporary closure. Customers can continue to make enquiries or complaints to its Customers Care Team via email, live chat or phone calls.

“Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ikeja Electric, Mrs Folake Soetan, noted in the statement that the safety and health of employees and members of the public is a priority to the organisation. Therefore, necessary preventive measures have be taken to avoid possible contact and spread of the virus.

According to her: “In line with our Customer First, Technology Now policy, all staff carrying out essential services will continue to deliver services in line with globally accepted safety and health requirements while staff carrying out non-essential services will hereby rely on our remote working channels throughout this period”.

She said, “As a responsible organisation, we hold our customers and staff in high esteem. So, their wellbeing and safety must be prioritized under the circumstance confronting our country and the entire world. The ongoing efforts to control the further spread of the COVID-19 virus is in line with efforts of governments globally to contain the virus.

“At this point, we all need to carefully observe precautionary measures and other safety protocols stipulated by government agencies and health organisations that will protect ourselves and loved ones from the virus. These involve, but not limited to, observing high hygiene by washing our hands often, using sanitizers where soap and water are not available, ensuring social distancing, avoiding handshakes and gatherings, as well as promptly contacting government agencies in the event of close persons displaying symptoms of the virus.

“Earlier in the month, we had set up specific control measures across our offices to ensure customers and staff are protected from possible exposure to the virus by providing sanitizers at the entrances and using hand-held infra-red thermometers to screen customers/visitors and staff. We are keenly following developments across the country and the advice of our government and health institutions as part of concerted efforts to safeguard everyone and to make sure our workplaces remain safe,” she added.

“The DisCo noted that throughout this period, customer experience will not be impacted as it continues to deploy technology to provide seamless services and improved customer experience.

“Customers can access their bills using the IE ebilling service, which is available via eservices.ikejaelectric.com or and the IE Mobile app, which can be downloaded on the Android Playstore. By the adoption of this technology, the company have greatly reduced interaction between customers and employees as far as bill distribution and collection matter.

“Customers can also make use of all available online channels to get their required services including making enquiries or complaints, payments of bills or recharge of prepaid meters and escalation of faults, the statement added.