SIX MONTHS POWER OUTAGE WORRY RESIDENTS OF OMEIFE OBIAGU IN ENUGU METROPOLIS

Residents of Omeife Obiagu in Enugu North Local Government of Enugu State have staged a peaceful protest against non supply of electricity to the area by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC.

The protesters who carried placards with different inscriptions, blocked the entrance to the company’s office.

They claimed that the area had been without light for the past six months due to faulty transformer.

One of the protesters, Mr. Paul Chikwendu, who spoke with Radio Nigeria, said they had patiently waited for EEDC to return the old transformer or provide a new one but to no avail.

‘’We are here because our transformer. For over six months, they collected our transformer, though spoilt , but for now we just came here to show our grievances because they promised to return it before December’’.

A human rights activist, Mr. Christian Okweonu, who is mediating in the matter, called on the management of the EEDC to provide the community with a transformer, adding that every citizen was entitled to steady power supply.

‘’Of course it’s their right to have right, I was in the meeting with them and both parties agreed that they were going to bring the transformer today’’

 Addressing the protesters, the Public Relations Officer of Company, Mr. Ike Eze commended them for their peaceful conduct and promised that a transformer would be provided for the area before the end of the day.

‘’Their transformer was out on call sometimes ago and our team of engineers took it to the workshop for repair, but the transformer has been fixed on Friday, it needed to be tested before taking it back to the location.’’

Mr. Eze encouraged them to pay their electricity bills always to enable the company to perform more effectively.

Officers and men of the Nigerian Police were on ground to maintain peace and order.

JULIET UGWU