Consumers Protest In Enugu Over Power Outage, Others

BY RAPHAEL ONYEKACHUKWU, ENUGU – No fewer than 10,000 electricity consumers in Enugu on Friday staged a protest to the Enugu State House of Assembly over incessant power outage, over estimated billing, alarming tariff, reconnection bill, among other forms of exploitative activities, by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
The protesters, who displayed numerous placards with various inscriptions, called on the lawmakers to, as a matter of urgency, intervene on the issue.
They also demanded the scrapping of the EEDC, alleging that the company, since inception, has been engaged in making life unbearable for citizens of the state.
The protesters explained that they decided to cry out based on the fact that they could no longer cope with the said “outrageous billing, epileptic power supply, among other inhuman acts by the electricity distribution company.”
Addressing newsmen, spokesman for the protesters, Barrister Eze Ajuluchukwu, said, “We are tired of this EDCC mess, and that is why we are calling on members of the Enugu State House of Assembly to rise up and do something about this ugly issue.”
Eze, who described EDDC as an anti-human company, stressed that, “We are giving them two options, it is either they give us electricity or they leave Enugu state.

The masses according to him, are being exploited on daily basis by EEDC, and by their actions, the company is sabotaging the economic growth of the state.
As at the time of filling this report, the protesters had occupied the Assembly complex, insisting that the state would no longer condone the activities of the EEDC.
The aggrieved electricity consumers equally asked the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, undertake a review of the privatization ‎of the power sector in Nigeria, as the EEDC lacked the capacity to manage electricity distribution in South-east geo-political zone.