By Ubong Sampson – Uyo
Hundreds of road users were on Thursday, left stranded on the Ette junction part of Uyo-Port Harcourt highway, as youths of Ikot Abasi local government area took over the road with blockades in protest of alleged exploitation by the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC).
According to the chairman of the Akwa Ibom Youth Caucus in the area, Edidiong Dickson, the company had installed a bulk prepaid meter in some transformers servicing the Ette community in the area. The installation, Dickson said, was done without the consent of the affected community.
However, according to him, the community had accepted the installation until they began to have issues.
The first issue, Dickson narrated, was that some indigenes had complained that business outlets consume more power than homes, and having everyone contribute the same amount of money to recharge the meters was not right. On the other
hand, he continued, a recharge of five hundred thousand naira (N500,000) runs out within two to three days.
According to the youth leader, this development did not go down well with the community, and several complaints to the PHEDC authority and requests for the company to uninstall the meters and replace them with individual meters, were given deaf ears.
Dickson also hinted that an indigene of the community simply identified as Orok, had dragged the company to the industrial court, praying the court to compel the company to uninstall the meters. The court ruling, Dickson said, went in favour of Orok and the community, adding that despite being served the court order, the company was still adamant.
Also speaking with our correspondent in the state, chairman of Ikot Abasi local government council, Joshua Affia, while corroborating Dickson’s story, said when he contacted the PHEDC manager, he was referred to the regulatory body.
He said the regulatory body had confirmed such installation, especially as it was done without the consent of the community, was illegal, and that he had questioned the manager on why he would refer him to the regulatory body.
Affia added that while addressing the youths who had approached his office with the complaints, he had simply told them that the issue was affecting them and not the company, which he said, was reason the company was showing no interest.
Meanwhile, in a later interaction, the youth caucus chairman had told our correspondent that the PHEDC authority had finally responded and appealed for calm, assuring them that the meters will be uninstalled as soon as possible, adding that earlier on Friday morning, the youths had restored access on the road and road users were freely going on their trips.
The PHEDC manager did not respond to calls sent to his phone line by our correspondent to have the company’s side of the story, even as of press time.
