Akwa Ibom youths, PHED bicker over poor electricity supply

Youths from Itu local government area, Akwa Ibom state, and the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) have disagreed over the poor electricity supply in the State.

The youths led by their leader, Ubong Akpan, barricaded the Transmission Station, in Afaha Ubeh Itam, Itu, sealing off the facility and later moved to the PHED office at four lane with a coffin, which they dropped at the entrance of the office.

The youths decried the poor electricity supply in their community and the continuous estimated bulk billing system used by the PHED, and called for its reversal.

Speaking, Youth leader, Ubong Akpan, said “We are against estimated bills and we want them to restore the light to what it used to be before now. We can’t imagine how we can have two power stations in Itu local government area, and we have not been having light for months.

“PHEDC has not been treating us well, even when we pay our bills regularly. We need prepaid metres, so that we can also enjoy like customers in other cities. The government should look into the activities of PHEDC in Akwa Ibom state,” he said.

Reacting to the incidence, Mr John Onyi, Manager, Corporate Communications, PHEDC, however blamed the youths for the outage, saying the barricading of the Transmission Station forced the station to forcefully shut down electric supply.

Speaking through a press release made available to newsmen on Thursday in Uyo, Onyi said economic activities of the entire state have been halted as a result of the sacking of TCN’s officials on duty by the irate youths.

He accused the youth leader of instigating the incidence, stating that the PHEDC would not be intimidated and called on the government and security agencies to step in to dissuade the aggrieved youths.

“The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, wishes to draw the attention of Security Agencies, Government Functionaries, electricity users and indeed members of the public that the entire Akwa Ibom state including the state capital has been thrown into unwarranted darkness by the Itam Youth Forum.

“The forced outage is sequel to the action of the Youth Development Forum under the leadership of Obong Ubong Akpan, who early this morning barricaded the Transmission Station, located at Itu close to the state capital, thereby forcing the station to shut down supply forcefully.”