There was an uneasy calm at Zone Eight, Otokiti Housing Estate and Shettima, all in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, as residents on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest against the hike in electricity bills and inadequate supply of power.


The protesters in their hundreds bearing placards with various inscriptions, chanted “No Light, No Work.”
They thronged the office of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) at Makaji Shopping Complex, Otokiti, to register their dismay over the two anomalies in the services of the company.

One of the protesters, Abdulaziz Shuaibu, who resides in Otokiti Estate, described the monthly electricity bills from the company as outrageous, especially when compared to the meagre power supplied to consumers.
He urged AEDC to supply electricity meters to the people in the area to avoid unnecessary hikes or unreasonable estimated billing, adding that many people could not afford the high bill.



Another protester, Mrs Magdalene Obaje, complained that her children were affected by heat rashes due to inadequate power supply and also avowed that the charges by AEDC did not equate to the electricity supplied to the area.
She called on government to come to the aid of the people, stressing that life had become difficult, especially for small-scale businesses some of which she noted had collapsed due to the lack of power supply.


Responding, Kogi State AEDC Regional Manager, Commercial, Mr Segun Ebuka, appealed to the protesters to remain calm, assuring them that the company would put measures in place towards proffering lasting solutions to the two problems.
He promised to make special requests to authorities towards satisfying the customers at all costs.

DAILY POST learnt the development had prompted a peace meeting between representatives of the affected communities and AEDC Staff to find a lasting solution to the issues raised.

sonature1:
Nigerians want 24/7 power supply, but nobody tells them that most people cannot afford to pay for it. That's why they keep bypassing their meters and still turn around to accuse phcn of not giving them steady power supply. Energy is not cheap.

OVB123:
Useless country.