Residents protest APL’s use of military for bill collection in Aba

A group of residents of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, yesterday, protested the use of military personnel allegedly by the Aba Power Limited (APL), a subsidiary of Geometric Power, to collect payment for electricity.

It was gathered that the protesters were APL customers under the Aba-Owerri Road 33KV Feeder, which has about 13 transformers from which they are being supplied electricity.

Chairman of the Watchtower Road transformer electricity consumers, Mr. Ojukwu Imo, decried the scenario where staff members of APL are enforcing bills collection in company of armed military personnel.

A witness said many residents had to close their shops and run away, following brutal activities of APL staff and their military men.

He said: “As if that was not enough, they came again with members of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) for the same purpose and started harassing people in the name of trying to collect electricity bill.”