Yaba Residents Protest Six-months Blackout.
Tired of living in darkness, residents of Abiodun, Adebiyi, Akanbi, Aderibigbe and Lawani Streets in Onitiri, Yaba, Lagos Mainland, yesterday stormed Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Marina, Lagos Headquarters to demand better service.
They protested against what they called the “outrageous bills” they have been receiving while living in darkness for six months.
They carried placards with inscriptions, such as, “Eko Distribution PLC is a cheat”; “EKEDC PLC stop distributing darkness”; “We are tired of outrageous bills”; “Prepaid metre is our right” among others.
Led by a lawyer, Mr Ayo Opadokun, they presented a protest letter, which among others stated that the objective of privatising power was to provide reliable and better power supply, to EKEDC management.
The letter, written by their lawyer, Ayo Opadokun & Co., to EKEDC Managing Director, reads: “Our clients have informed us that in the last one year, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company has given different makeup stories for its epileptic supply of power and excessively unfair and unrealistic billing system. There are times when they don’t have any supply for weeks and when it is temporarily restored, the unstable supply has destroyed their electronic gadgets and electrical apparatus. And when one of their cables fell off the pole in the University of Lagos, Yaba, recently, and thereby killed a student, they were in darkness for about a month. That the company claims to be busy making installation of one equipment or the other at all times. But the company as usual will unjustly bill them for power not used.”
Head of Corporate Communication, EKEDC Mr Idemudia Godwin said it was not true that the residents have been in darkness for six months, explaining that the community is experiencing what he called “load-shedding”.
