Community protests EEDC’s bulk metering bills in Anambra

The residents of Ukpor community in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State have protested against the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) over bulk metering bills and a power outage that has persisted for more than six years.

They also protested what they described as the ineffective and unjust imposition of exorbitant service charges by the EEDC management in the Nnewi Regional Office.

The protesters called on the EEDC and its staff in Nnewi to be accountable and transparent in determining service charges and to end the use of bulk metering, which they claimed was causing frequent disconnections and prolonged blackouts in the industrial city of the state.

During the peaceful protest, over 250 protesters expressed their concerns over exorbitant service and maintenance charges, and the frequent disconnection of power supply due to the use of a single bulk meter for the entire Ukpor community.

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The Nigerian Tribune gathered that, following complaints about ‘indiscriminate billing’ raised by Nigerians, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission had agreed some time ago to eliminate the practice of bulk billing for residential customers across the country and replace it with individual metering and billing.

However, according to Comrade Nkwadochukwu Onwughalu, Chairman of the Ukpor Electricity Consumers Committee, this has not been implemented in Ukpor.

Comrade Onwughalu accused the EEDC of deliberately blacklisting the community for over six years without taking visible action to restore power.

He noted that the EEDC had disconnected the community from the industrial line and removed five transformers, returning only two.

Onwughalu accused the EEDC of bulk billing, vandalizing their transformers, and disconnecting the community from the 33KVA industrial line to which they belong.

He stated, “The administration of the former governor Willie Obiano intervened in the power crisis in Ukpor and put us on the industrial line, but immediately after he left office, the EEDC disconnected us again.

“We had five transformers that became faulty. The EEDC came and took them, pretending they would refurbish them.

They only returned two and installed the remaining three in another community, leaving us in total darkness.”

Mr. Valentine Ifechigha, Ukpor Zone 3 leader and an electricity consumer, expressed frustration that the community was paying for services they did not receive.

He said they were demanding the return of the removed transformers, the community’s reinstatement to the 33KVA line, debulking of the transformers, and the issuance of prepaid meters to individual consumers.

“We will no longer pay for electricity consumed by our neighbors,” Ifechigha said.

Mr. Pius Onyeanusi, a cottage industrialist who produces sachet water, said he had shut down his factory due to the power challenges.

“I had 25 workers, but they have stopped working because we are no longer producing due to lack of electricity. No electricity, no industries,” Onyeanusi lamented.

In response, the Nnewi EEDC Business District Manager, Mr. Evaristus Obeta, acknowledged the community’s complaints and promised to escalate their grievances to the relevant management for action.

The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as “EEDC Give Us Individual Prepaid Meters,” “Small Scale Businesses in Ukpor have Closed,” “EEDC Save Our Students, Give Them Electricity to Read at Night,” “No More EEDC Darkness in Ukpor,” and “Ukpor Electricity Consumers Are Tired of Darkness.”

Other messages included “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,” and “Ukpor, Headquarters of Nnewi is in Darkness.”

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE