Residents of Port Harcourt, capital city of oil rich Rivers State has staged a protest at the headquarters of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED to register their displeasure over the exorbitant bills they pay as tariff for electricity they hardly consume.
They also accused the company of failing to entertain their petition on the matter.
One of the convener of the the protest, Korfi Bartels said the reaction was to draw attention of the public to the outrageous Billings from PHED.
“Personally I have received acouoke it bills from PHED and I feel are outrageously higher than what I should be paying on a normal basis and I am aware that there are several residents of Port Harcourt and Rivers State that have received bills that are very high than normally what they should be paying.
“I think as a corporate entity the PHED needs to listen to the views and cries of their customers”.
On his part, Chairman of the Rivers State Civil Society Organisation, RIVSCO, Enefaa Georgewill said the protest was inevitable for his group. “We ask PHED to follow the law creating the electricity sector.
“This overbilling will have to stop and we are equally saying that PHED must obey the agreement that it into being or they park and go”.
A human rights lawyer, Barrister Higher King said PHED has no right to disconnect it’s customers without three months notice in accordance with section 94 of the Electric Sector Power Reform Act, 2005.
He said, “it’s time Port Harcourt people begin to hold PHED accountable for their atrocities. For instance, you cannot cut or disconnect somebody’s light without the three months statutory notice which is covered by section 94 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005. You must give that notice before you can disconnect somebody’s electricity. So policemen, take note, don’t join PHED in committing crime”.
Our reporter s report that the protesters in their hundreds moved from the Sharks Stadium in old Port Harcourt township to the PHED office.
