Electricity Consumers in Yola, the Adamawa State Capital have flooded the streets to protest against the arbitrary charges in electricity bills and the prolonged epileptic power supply resulting to low economic activities and widespread frustrations on Residents within Jimeta and its environs .
Our Correspondent reports that Residents who were seen brandishing placards with the inscription, “give us power now”, “Stop Crazy Bills”, “stop this darkness”, “YEDC is a complete failure” among others, barricaded the the major streets of Jimeta particularly the Mubi round about and the Jimeta Business Unit of the Yola Electricity Distribution Company causing heavy traffic jam and disrupting free flow of traffic in some parts of the State Capital.
The leader of the protesters, Mallam Ibrahim Sale, an Elder From Yelwa Ward who presented a letter to the leadership of the YEDC to register their grievances and frustrations described as unjustifiable the current charges of thirty thousands naira (N30, 000) per month pegged on a customer by the distribution Company in spite of lack of commensurate services, emphasizing that the charges are baseless and unreasonably high.
“We have experienced frequent power outages without electricity especially during the Holy month of Ramadan.
“We have decided not to pay our electricity bills until there is significant improvement in the supply of electricity in our area . If the present bill reflects in our arrears in the next bill, we will take legal action against your company.
“We believed that as a responsible and reliable Service Provider, it is your duty to provide us with a stable and affordable power supply. We hope that you will take our concerns seriously and give it the desired attention to avoid further conflict between your company and Consumers”, he said.
Responding, Musa Tahir Suleiman from the Commercial Division Headquarters of the YEDC, commended the protesters for the way and manner they conducted themselves and assured them of immediate response by the authoritaries concerned.
The Internal Control Officer of YEDC, Kabiru Abubakar in a chat with our Reporter assured Adamawa Consumers that the letter and complaints of consumers will be given the desired attention for possible remedy to the poor power situation and called on the people of the State to exercise patience and appreciate the operational difficulties of the company.
PIONEER NEWS 