Rivers women protest outage, demand transformer

More than 100 women from Port Harcourt City Council of Rivers State, yesterday, stormed the Port Harcourt office of the Electricity Distribution (PHED) to protest continued blackout in their area for more than four months.

The women, in black outfits, carried placards and barricaded the PHED office in the early hours, demanding that the electricity company carry out its obligation by providing a transformer.

They lamented the hardship they had faced since their transformer developed a fault, noting that every aspect of their lives has been affected, especially those that run food businesses within the area.

Some of the women, who spoke with The Guardian, disclosed that they had been in talks with the management of the company, which has been making unfilled promises.

One of the protesters, simply identified as Goodness, said: “We are here because of our transformer at Aggrey Estate. Since October 2021, it developed a fault, we don’t have light till today.

“PHED has been tossing us up and down. Last week, they were here, they told us they would give us transformer last week Friday unfailingly.