Ukpor Community In Anambra Vows Weekly Protest Against Against EEDC Over Darkness
The people of Ukpor in Nnewi South Local Government of Anambra have said they would stage weekly protest against the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) over power outage and bulk billing until their demands were addressed.
The protesters numbering about 250 chanted solidarity songs and bore placards with varying inscriptions
Some of the inscriptions were “EEDC Give Us Individual Prepared Metre”,.”Small Scale Businesses in Ukpor Have Closed”, ” EEDC Save Our Students, Give them Electricity To Read at Night,” No More to EEDC Darkness in Ukpor”, Ukpor Electricity Consumers Are Tired of Darkness,”.
Others were “EEDC Should Return Our Transformers Which They Took Away for Maintenance and Gave to Other Communities”, “EEDC Return Ukpor to 33KVA”, EEDC Respond to Our Request”, Ukpor, Hdqtrs of Nnewi South is in Darkness” and among others.
Mr Nkwadochukwu Onwughalu, Chairman of Ukpor Electricity Consumers Committee accused EEDC of deliberately blacklisting the community for over six years without visible action to restore power to the community.
He said for EEDC had disconnected the community from the industrial line and carted away five transformers from the community out of which they returned two.
Onwughalu accused EEDC of bulk billing, vandalism of their transformers and disconnection of the community from the industrial line.
“The administration of the former governor Willie Obiano intervened in the power crisis in Ukpor and put us in the industrial line but immediately he left office, EEDC disconnected us again.
“We have five transformers that got bad, EEDC still came and carried them with the pretence that they were going to refurbish it. They only returned two and took the remaining three and installed them for another community, leaving us in total darkness.
Also speaking, Mr Valentine Ifechigha, Ukpor Zone 3 leader and an electricity consumer said it was unacceptable that the community would be paying for services they did not enjoy.
Ifechigha said all they were asking for was the return of the transformers taken away, return of the community to 33kVA line which was commissioned in 2017, debulking of the transformers in the community and issuance of prepaid metres to individual consumers.
He said they would no longer pay for electricity which her neighbors were consuming.
Mr Pius Onyeanusi, a cottage industrialist who produced sarchet water said he had shut down his factory as a result of power challenges.
Onyeanusi said he had 25 workers in his employ but noted that they had been stopped from working because production had stopped as a result of outage.
Addressing the protesters, the EEDC Business District Manager, Evaristus Obeta said he had heard the complaint of the community and promised to escalate their grievance relevant response by the management.
