Sabo-Oke community cries out over lack of electricity

Residents of Sabo Oke (Ilupeju) community in Ilorin, Kwara State, have cried out over what they described as deliberate action of the workers of the PHCN in Baboko District to put the area in perpetual darkness.Some residents of the community who visited the Nigerian Tribune office in Ilorin during the week, said the problem started when the authorities of the PHCN at the district refused to resolve the issue on the N120 million allegedly owed the community as overcharged electricity bills.Speaking with the Community News, the Secretary of Sabo Oke (Ilupeju) community, Mr Michael Kingsley, said the members of the community were asking for refund in accordance with the rules and regulations of NERC.He said the PHCN authorities in the area had computed some amount of money as what they owed the community, adding that after a meeting with the members of the community they removed between 10 per cent and 50 per cent of the same amount of money alleged to have been overcharged.He said the total amount of money deducted from residents of the area was not more than N2 million out of the N120 million owed as overcharged bills.'But on October 8, 2011, at around 10 am, Baboko agents went on a rampage disconnecting our light for the money we are contesting its validity and which they have refused to sit down with us to talk over at any time. We therefore, urged them to stop the disconnection to forestall a breakdown of law and order and let us ascertain the validity of the money they are claiming.'As a result of this, since October 6, the entire community has been thrown into blackout by the management at Baboko to coerce us and put us under duress to pay for what we have not consumed,' he said.Attempts to contact the management of the PHCN in the area had proved abortive as several visits to the office to seek clarification from the management had not yielded positive result, while the staff members said the officer that could speak on the matter was not on sit.However, an anonymous staff of the company accused the residents of the area as uncooperative, adding that measures were being taken to resolve the issue already.
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