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Community lauds Ikeja electric over youth empowerment

By Sunday Aikulola and Tayo Oredola
14 March 2018   |   2:22 am
The Agbado area community of Ifo local government, Ogun State has commended Ikeja Electric (IE) for its efforts on youth empowerment in their locality.Besides, a Lagos based lawyer and the National Coordinator of Electricity Consumer Protection Forum Barr Adeola Samuel and a businessman Mr. Churchill Udoh....


• Others frown at unethical treatment of consumers

The Agbado area community of Ifo local government, Ogun State has commended Ikeja Electric (IE) for its efforts on youth empowerment in their locality.Besides, a Lagos based lawyer and the National Coordinator of Electricity Consumer Protection Forum Barr Adeola Samuel and a businessman Mr. Churchill Udoh, have expressed concern over the unethical treatment meted customers under the network of Ikeja Electric.
  
The Chairman of IE Customers’ Consultative Forum, Agado, Olawoye Amos, during the area’s recent Community Development Committee (CDC) meeting said he was glad that six of their youth were beneficiaries of a vocational training programme organized by IE.He explained that the beneficiaries were also empowered with variety of starter equipment to commence work immediately after the training, “at least, they are not only taking from us, they trying to give back.”
     
Speaking to one of the recipient, Abayomi Akinsoya who expressed delight in his new employment, said he hasn’t only started work but also looking.Expressing his reservation over unethical practices by Ikeja Electric,. Adeola said that prior to commencement of operation in July 2017, West GateLife Care applied to Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, for the connection of a newly purchased transformer to the grid. “This was acknowledged by IKEDC on April 24, 2017. The transformer was eventually commissioned on October 18, 2017, (Eight months later), but with a fairly used metering system, which was not acceptable to us, but due to the eight month frustrations we had experienced, and the explanation of their installers that it may take more than one year to source a new one, we had to make do with that.

  
On his part, Churchill said that IKEDC served his company a bill N294, 106.28 for the month of October, which was promptly paid. “For the month of November, N977, 835.85 was forwarded to us, this we verbally protested with the representatives of IKEDC, but effected the payment all the same. Shockingly, for the month of December, they served us a bill of N1, 537,835.85 on January 6, 2018. Since the bill was very alarming, and we had expressed this opinion to most of their operators that are known to us, including the station manager of Olowira, Mrs Olutoyin Olaoye, demanding for the load calibration of all our facilities on their grip, but there was no reasonable response. Instead of addressing our complaint, they rather sent us a disconnection order on February 12, 2018.
  
“To demonstrate good faith on our part, our management made payment of N1,000,000.00 on January, 13 2018, and our business development director made 2 calls within the 3rd week to Mrs. Olaoye for a formal meeting on this matter, and she agreed to the meeting appointments in the 3rd week of January, but never showed up. While all these were going on, to our absolute surprise, the operators of IKEDC disconnected power supply to our facility on Saturday January 27, 2018. All efforts to reach her thereafter became futile.
  
At this point we had to write formally through our lawyers, lead solicitors, Adeola Samuel-Ilori, to the headquarters of IKEDC protesting our unpleasant experience, and insisting that our loads be calibrated to determine the approximate load factor in our Mall. Against all respectable rules of mutual engagement, IKEDC has ignored our letter till date, but served us a new bill of N840, 000.00 on February 9, 2018”, he stated.
  
The Head, Corporate Communications Ikeja Electric Plc , Felix Ofulue stated: “The company is a Maximum Demand customer under our network and are currently under disconnection for trespass to IE’s network and unauthorized reconnection to IE’s 11KV High Tension Power line. As a safety conscious organization whose mantra is ‘Harm to Zero’, we understand the safety implication of unauthorized reconnection to a high tension power line and the damage it may cause to our distribution equipment and other untoward hazards, including fatality, this action may also pose to innocent customers and our brand.”
 

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