Ondo: Residents Seal Akure BEDC Office over High Estimated Billings

James Sowole

The Residents of Graceland Estate, Obaile, in the outskirt of Akure, the Ondo State capital, yesterday sealed off the Akure office of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), over alleged crazy electricity bills.

The residents also decried alleged nonchalant attitude of the BEDC, towards improving their services despite efforts of the landlords and landladies of the estate.

The card carrying protesters, who occupied the BEDC’s head office in Akure, as early as 8:30 a.m., locked the entrance gate of the company and refused to allow the workers including the BEDC’s Business Manager, Mr. Andrew from entry.

It took the intervention of soldiers on duty at the BEDC’s office to allow some staff to go about their duties.

Some of the placards carried by the protesting residents read: “We say no to crazy bills: “We don’t want estimated billings;” “BEDC, Give us Pre-Paid Meters;” “BEDC is Cheating Us,” “We Are Ready to Pay for What We Consume,” among others.

Speaking with journalists, the Chairman of the Graceland Estate, Mr. Popoola Martins, said they have paid for pre paid metres but the electricity firm refused to provide the metres for them.

Martins alleged that the BEDC is only interested in collecting electricity bills without maintaining facilities or providing new infrastructure.

He said: “We are here to tell the BEDC that their illegality must stop. We are responsible for buying poles, cables, conductors and even transformer. Their only input is to collect money.

“We are being given bill of N70,000 to N110,000 monthly per house. That is outrageous. The transformer we procured is yet to be installed. We are here for the world to call the BEDC to order.”

The protesters submitted to the electricity company a four point letter the organisation must meet.

They said that the company must stop issuance of crazy/estimated billings; must supply functional prepaid meters to all houses, carry out immediate installation of the new transformer donated by the state government and remove the estate from Band ‘E’ to Band ‘A’ customers.

The Spokesman for the BEDC, Akure Branch, Mr. Micheal Barnabas, explained that the protesters were not given pre paid metres because they were on Band ‘E.’

Barnabas said pre paid metres would be made available to customers in Band E after customers on band A, B and C have been given metres.

He said customers without metres are billed based on the feeder and tariff band they are linked with.