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Community, Eko DisCo trade words over electricity supply

By Tayo Oredola
05 September 2018   |   3:04 am
The Papa Ajao community of Mushin and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) are on a warpath over issues on power supply.The community threatened to totally disconnect from EKEDC’s supply as a result of high electricity bills.

EKEDC

The Papa Ajao community of Mushin and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) are on a warpath over issues on power supply.The community threatened to totally disconnect from EKEDC’s supply as a result of high electricity bills.
    
Members of the community in a protest at the company’s Mushin unit, complained of high bills since January this year, saying charges had increased by about 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, in a statement by EKEDC on Monday, the company repudiated the claims made by the communities in the Ilasamaja area of Mushin Local Government .
However, the statement by EKEDC’s Corporate Communications General Manager, Godwin Idemudia, stated that the claims made in the publication were fictitious and inaccurate., explaining that the power outage in the area was originally caused by a faulty 11kv feeder in Ilasamaja that tripped on August 24, 2018.
A resident in the community, Adeniyi Bamibade told The Guardian that in as much as they want to keep the company in business, they were tired of paying for what they did not consume.
    
He said for some of them, the bills have become even more expensive than the rent they pay monthly at their residents, hence if they were not metered, no payments would be made.But EKEDC spokesperson said the company made efforts to restore power to the area but was restricted by members of the community, who protested and refused the technical crew access to rectify the fault forcing them to withdraw for safety reasons.

He further said a series of efforts were made to dialogue with community representatives to resolve the issue proved abortive, adding that rather than welcoming discussion, they filed a petition against the power distribution company at the Area D Command Police Station in Mushin.Idemudia recalled that the area had experienced an average of 15 hours power supply daily prior to the incident, and the company would never intentionally put cooperative customers in darkness.

The Eko DisCo team on ground led by the Mushin District Head Abubakar Saliu, who calmed the angry community members later agreed in a meeting that pending when the company looks into the matter, members should pay 50 per cent of the current bill.
    
It was further agreed that houses who have outstanding of below N50 000 should pay 20 per cent and those who have above N50,000 were asked to pay 50 per cent of it.The company however decided to commence a load inventory of the community to enable reconciliation if necessary after the exercise in about a month.

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