PROTESTS OVER BEDC INEFFICIENCY PARALYZED ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN UVWIE
OGHENETEJIRI NYERHOVWO
Hundreds of electricity consumers in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State on Wednesday, July 3, 2019 stormed major roads in the area including the ever-busy Effurun Roundabout and the Warri/Sapele road to protest the persistent power outage for over two months now.
The protesters made up women, youths and the elderly came from various communities of Uvwie such as Effurun, Ekpan, Alegbo, Ugbromo, Uti, Ebrumede, Jakpa and other communities, they are drawn from areas from Refinery Junction to Airport Junction. They decried poor power supply by Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
There was gridlock for several hours at the ever busy Effurun Roundabout where the protest climaxed, they demanded for the sack of Mrs. Funky Osibundu, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, BEDC over her company’s inability to provide adequate power for them.
They said that the protest was as a result of blackout by BEDC as the company shut down some communities like Ekpan, Effurun, Ugbromo, Okuatata, Ebrumede, Okoloba, Udumurhie, Alaka, Sokoh Estate Road, Akah Avenue, Okito Barracks, Alegbor, Uti, Ovie Palace Road.
As it was expected that during peaceful protest, hoodlums takes advantage to carry out pick pockets and there are some level of violence and criminal activities, this was not exceptional as some hoodlums and touts took advantage of the chaotic situation to carry out petty robberies and thefts, this made shops owners and business ventures around the areas to shut down for the period of the protest.
Findings revealed that Effurun/Sapele Road which is between the Effurun Roundabout, the gateway into the Warri metropolis and the access route to the East-West Road and Jakpa Junction was completely locked down, leading to serious gridlock that affected both those going into Warri and those passing through to other parts of the South-South states
Mr. Aghogho Akponehwe, a resident of Alegbo said employees of BEDC had been making life difficult for their consumers, he gave instances of the company collecting money for services not rendered, he called on the BEDC to surrender its contract licenses and allow government engage a more efficient service provider.
According to him, “the corruption of BEDC is on the highest level. They come to your house, even when you have a prepaid metre, they will come and leave a message like ‘if you people do not come to present the bills you use in buying units in the next two days, you will be disconnected’. These are people who have their own jobs to attend to, these are people who spend between N18,000 to N20,000 monthly on electricity bills.”
Also speaking, Mrs. Agnes Okoro said that the protest was long overdue, she disclosed that people could not continue to be in darkness without any remedy in sight adding that it had become obvious that BEDC had shown incapacity and unfit to continue holding its consumers to ransom, she spoke further,”the federal government must relieve them of the job by giving the contract out for a more capable and reliable firm that can deliver.
Contacted for her comments, Mrs. Helen Ogagarue, Spokesperson of BEDC in Warri said that she was out of town and had no idea of what was happening for her to comment on.
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