Rita Inyibor,a resident of Kurudu, Abuja, has called on the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to remove the electricity pole belonging to the distribution company, which is resting dangerously on her house.Inyibor said she had notified the AEDC of the happenings but the company refused to find a solution to the matter.She lamented the carefree attitude of the staff of the distribution company, noting that they made no effort to address the situation.'I have had a problem with the electricity company for over two years. Their electric cables are resting on my building in construction. A pole is resting on the fence of my house with the wires touching the roofing sheets of my house at Kurudu block, Industry New Road, Abuja,' she said.She revealed that when she notified the distribution company about the cables were creating a spark on her house, they did not respond.'The cables resting on the roof of my house once sparked fire and what they could do was to stop the spark by placing a piece of wood in between the cable and roof.'Explaining some of the steps she had taken to get the distribution company to fix the falling pole, she said: 'I have been going to their office and calling their officers to come and straighten the pole. I have also written officially to the Kurudu office at Second Gate. After a long time of waiting, with the Kurudu office claiming they had nothing with which to remove the pole; they referred me to Jikwonyi AEDC Abuja. I also had to write officially to them but they have not done anything to remove the pole that is resting on my house.'Inyibor also stated that she met with one Engineer Awoniyi during one of her persistent visits to Jikwoyi AEDC office, but he deceived her that a team would be sent to fix it.'At Jikwoyi, I finally spoke with Engineer Awoniyi who sent a person to see the place after which he kept on promising that they will remove the pole. After some time, they said they don't have the machinery to remove the pole and that I should keep waiting.'She appealed to the management of AEDC to fix the pole to prevent future disaster.'I want the management of AEDC, especially the MD, Mr. Ernest Mupwaya, to please come to my aid and straighten the pole or totally remove it from resting on my house. We don't want to see anybody electrocuted.'When contacted, Engineer Awoniyi stated that Inyibor breached the right of way by constructing a building on the path of cables."She encroached into the right of way, that is where utilities are supposed to be," he said."After the shoulder of the road, there will be culvert and from culvert to the fence; there will be drainage and is it meant for utilities' It is where the pole is supposed to be. I told her that if she built a shop, there was nothing we could do, or if she was planning to build a shop there won't be a need for relocation."He, however, said he would ensure AEDC aligns the pole resting on her house. "I will visit the place and see what we can do as regards to that," he promised.EnergyHuman RightsNewsAddThis:Featured Image:Original Author:SaharaReporters, New YorkDisable advertisements:
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