From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Electricity consumers in Calabar South axis of Cross River State have protested six weeks of power outage in the area.
The protesters numbering hundreds, who paraded major streets in Calabar yesterday, lamented the situation had become embarrassing that residents live in darkness despite paying their electricity bills.
Areas affected include Goldie Street, Mayne Avenue, Mount Zion, Yellow Duke, Ekpo Abasi, Edgerley, Edibe-Edibe, Eyo Ita, Target, Charmley, Beecroft, Eyamba and Nkwa.
One of the protesters, Nyong Ewatt, who resides at Bayside axis of Calabar, said their transformer has been faulty for over one month and they have resolved not to contribute any money to fix it.
“It had spoilt before and we contributed for the repair of the electricity equipment and the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) abused the gesture.
“Since then, we have not had power supply for almost six weeks. Each time there was a problem, they compelled us to contribute money, but this time we told them we were tired of constantly being compelled to contribute money to fix faulty equipment. Since then, we have had no light.”
Another angry consumer at Howel Street, Mrs Nenene Okon, said her area had been without electricity for over one month after a faulty cable killed two persons in Adak-Uko Street.
She said: “Was it meant to punish us? I would have thought that PHED would have shown remorse by fixing the light after that disaster, but they chose to do otherwise. This is the height of nonchalance.”
Also lamenting, another resident of Etonko Street, Mr. Maurice Ibok, said his area had been in darkness for 26 days.
“We experienced loss of power in my location, Etonko Street; it also affects Mayne Avenue Extension, Goldie Street, Etoi Street, Bateba Street, Uwanse Street and Gibson Street, since November 10, 2017; the situation has continued till date.
“I personally have made several calls to the PHED customer care in Port Harcourt and visited the PHED office in Calabar. PHED has poor customer service. They have poor maintenance culture and their obsolete appliances crash without notice.
“PHED is not paying attention to some locations since they cannot send all spurious estimated bills because they use prepaid meters. We are really passing through untold hardship and hoodlums have invaded the area,” Ibok lamented.
PHED Public Relations Officer, Mr. John Onyi, told newsmen that he has not been briefed on the Calabar protest and promised to look into the issue.