Residents of IyiowaOdekpe community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State have protested what they described as “outrageous estimated billings”, “extortion” and “weeks of power outage” in the hands of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company.
The EEDC, which is responsible for the distribution of power in the South-East states of Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi, is being accused of operating like a “mafia organization”, alleging systematic extortion and intimidation for several months.
The community members alleged that the EEDC gives the community estimated monthly billing of over N80,000, which they said is more than the minimum monthly wage.
The aggrieved community members, who staged a peaceful protest on Monday carried placards with various inscriptions such as: “EEDC’s disconnection of our power for three weeks is an attempt to cow us into submission”, “Over 80 per cent of residents disconnected have prepaid meters”, “N80,000 monthly electricity bill is unaffordable”, and “There is a monthly cap from NERC – stop the overbilling now!”
They demanded the immediate provision of prepaid meters, the cancellation of accumulated “ridiculous arrears” resulting from inflated bills, and the restoration of electricity supply.
Speaking to South-East Punch, the Chairman of the IyiowaOdekpe Landlords and Tenants Association, Chief Sunday Obinze, decried the hardship imposed on the community by EEDC.
Obinze said, “The EEDC disconnected the entire community from power on the grounds that residents were indebted, even though over 80 per cent of consumers use prepaid meters.
“We are being exploited, extorted and intimidated. We cannot pay these outrageous bills, and no amount of intimidation will cow us into submission.
“The bills sent to postpaid users range between N80,000 and N130,000 monthly. How much is Nigeria’s minimum wage? How do you expect a civil servant to pay N100,000 for electricity in one month?”
Obinze noted that the community previously paid between N18,000 and N28,000 monthly before the recent billing surge.
He noted that based on information from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the billing cap for their category should be around N31,000 per month—a figure the community is willing to pay.
“We are low-income earners and cannot afford bills of N80,000 to N130,000. EEDC is simply exploiting and intimidating us,” he added.
