By Patrick Ochei
The people of Issele-Uku community in Aniocha north local government area of Delta State have protested to the Asaba Regional Office of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, (BEDC), over epileptic power supply in the community
The protest was led by the President General, Issele-Uku Development Union (IDU), Mr. Offordile Ugeh, on Tuesday September 24, 2024.
Stating the grievances of the community, Mr. Ugeh told the Regional Manager and his team, that electricity supply in Issele-Uku has completely collapsed even after being upgraded from Band D to Band B in the 11KV line, with enormous financial obligation of about N18 million monthly on the community.
The IDU President explained that as a result of the prevalent darkness, crime rate in the commercial nerve centre of Aniocha North Local Government Area has increased abysmally, with transformers being vandalised, kidnapping and other forms of robbery taking place almost on daily basis.
According to him, there is tension now in town and the community leadership could no longer manage the situation, hence the delegation by the Traditional Ruler, HRM Agbogidi Obi Nduka JP (MNSE) to come and interface with the company’s management.
Responding, the Regional Head of BEDC Asaba Zone, Mr. Gboyega Ogunlejika in a very calm demeanour alongside his Technical Manager and Business Manger, explained the challenges of the 11KV Feeder that feeds Issele-Uku and Ubulu-Okiti.
Explaining the true state of things, he said that Issele-Uku in reality is on Band C of the 11KV Feeder and not on Band B as made to believe from the field officers. He said that the company is having issues with load limitation, making it to concentrate more on Band A before what is left is shared to other Bands.
However, he said that there is no way Issele-Uku can even remain on Band C which is supposed to enjoy 12 hours of power supply on daily basis, because that is not realistic based on current realities, thereby suggesting reallocating Issele-Uku to Band D which is eight hours of light, with an assurance to make it effective depending on the fixing and workability of the lines.
Mr. Gboyega after all technical assessments, suggested to the delegation on the need for Issele-Uku to look forward to individual metering, instead of the bulk metering system earlier adopted for the community.
He said the metres are supposed to be free, but because BEDC cannot afford to give metres to every home, they prefer suggesting to people to apply to get one from the Metre Access Provider (MAP) and have the money de-frayed overtime as the consumers purchase energy. However, those that could not afford to purchase the metre could now be transfered to Estimated Billing System.
In a nutshell, the Regional Head assured to review the entire arrangement and get back to the community on the appropriate Bill to start paying. In the meantime, he gave an understanding of the different modes of billing like Prepaid, Postpaid and Bulk Payment systems.
While insisting that it is the ultimate goal of the company to get everybody on the Band A category of power supply which is 20 hours daily, he assured he can only struggle to keep Issele-Uku within the Band D category of eight hours daily based on the reality on ground, which is mainly due to load limitation and faulty lines.
