By Godwin Oghre
There was total collapse of commercial and socio-economic activities in Sapele, recently, as over half of the population took to the streets in protest against the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, for failure to improve on power supply to the area since it took over from Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, over six years ago.
The protesting crowd, spreading over 10 kilometres from Sapele main market to Olympia Roundabout, and down to Amukpe-Eku Roundabout, were joined by market women, members of civil society groups, area boys and politicians, including the former Sapele Council Chairman, leading to traffic jam in nearly all the roads in the area.
Some of the inscriptions in the placards the protesters carried read: “Revoke BEDC license and introduce prepaid metres,” “BEDC activities are all fraud,” “BEDC is incompetent and lack the skill to deliver power to the people,” “We are paying our bills without light,” among others. Sapele residents during the protest. ‘We’re tired’ Midway into the protest, some of the area boys disengaged from the long queue and matched to the residence of the Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Chief Monday Igbuya, chanting war songs and accusing him of doing nothing with his position to assuage the plight of the people.
A former council chairman in the area, Chief Joe Egigba, said: “We are tired of outrageous BEDC bills for light that we are not consuming. They bring estimated billings. Other parts of the country enjoy improved supply of power.” The protesters marched along major streets of Sapele to Amukpe before moving to the Ogorode-Sapele Power Station and the National Independent Power Station. At the AT&P main gate of the Sapele office of BEDC, the protesters set several car tyres on fire along the dual carriage way, causing heavy traffic jam and discomfort to passers-by.
A community leader, Ben Tobi, said: “Sapele and environs are areas where electricity generation is very high, but BEDC has refused to pick up the power from the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, also located in the area, for distribution to the people from who it is collecting exorbitant monthly estimated bills. “If you read Vanguard of September 3, 2016, TCN complained bitterly that it has surplus power, but BEDC has refused to pick up for distribution to the people.”
When Vanguard visited TCN office in Sapele, an official who spoke on grounds of anonymity, said: “Sapele needs about 40Mw, but BEDC is only picking up 5Mw, leading to an all-year round blackout in the area. “We have surplus power in TCN, but if BEDC does not lift it, there is nothing any one can do.
Even if the company wants to lift more than 40Mw of power, we have it. “The problem of blackout in Sapele is not about generation. There is enough power here, but it is permanently not picked up for distribution and nobody will pay for power that is not distributed.”
The Sapele Business Manager of BEDC refused to comment on the matter. However, a senior officer of the company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The people should pay for their bills before we can give them light,” a claim that the protesters consistently denied, insisting “we are even paying more than we are consuming.” Fruitless meetings It could be recalled that residents in the area have held over five protests in recent times against BEDC, all to no avail.
The one before the latest was led by a Catholic priest in the area. Following that protest, the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, HRM Orue I, sought to broker peace between BEDC and the people of the area, which failed to yield fruit at press time. Meanwhile, the committee set up a month ago by the monarch, made up of some officials of BEDC led by the company’s Chief State Head, Delta, Engr. Earnest Edgar, and representatives from different ethnic groups that reside in the area, has equally failed to resolve the lingering power crisis in the area.
Its proceedings have allegedly been consistently disrupted by BEDC officials, who reportedly wanted it to implement some unfavourable measures, including that the proceedings of the committee must be held in secrecy and that pressmen must not be found within the arena. The committee, chaired by Elder Tom Anirah, after several meetings, has not also been able to sign the communiqué arising from its meetings due to frequent disagreements from BEDC.
In their last meeting, officials of BEDC vehemently objected to the presence of journalists, saying “pressmen must not cover the proceedings of this committee,” forcing reporters to leave the arena— a position which several members of the committee kicked against. Estimate tax return 2010 Deceptive Edgar Groups
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