*Insists it is either prepaid meter or nothing
*Threatens to take case to Power Ministry, NERC, Lagos Govt, if…
By Kemi Kasumu, General Editor
Speaking for others, Mr. Oluwasegun Funmi-Davies said, “We came here from Dopemu Community Agege. That is where the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly comes from and he is aware of what we are doing today. What we are saying is that, we are tired of being given estimated bills! We are tired of your playing on our intelligence in Dopemu Community! We want to be treated the way other communities like Akowonjo, Alimoso, Egbeda are treated! We want prepared meters! If there is no prepaid meters, please don’t come to our community for anything!”
Tired of continuous waiting without success with regard to prepaid meter installation, the Dopemu Community Development Association (Dopemu CDA), Agege Local Government in the Ikeja Division area of Lagos State, has said “no more to crazy and estimated bill” from Ikeja Electric (IE).
Ikeja Electric is the power Distribution Company (DisCo) covering largely the hinterland in the Centre of Excellence.
Mr. Akinola, Ikeja Electric official in charge of community matters, addresses protesting customers from Dopemu, Agege, Lagos, on Wednesday. With him are Secretary of Dopemu CDA Seyi Lasisi and Mr. Olusegun Funmi-Davies.
The Dopemu people are saying that it is either the DisCo installs prepaid meter to their respective houses in the ancient Lagos community or they would no longer love to see any of its officials coming to either distribute what they call their outrageous bills for consuming nothing commiserating to the amount being charged to them.
According to the CDA Secretary Seyi Lasisi and another leading youth member of the community Dopemu Sulaiman Alao, the community had waited endlessly since 2011 when they said IE promised to move to their community after Ikeja, where prepaid meters had been fully distributed and installed free.
Findings revealed that Ikeja Electric hinged its delay of installation of the meters since 2011 on what it called “collected signatures” from the Dopemu community signposting their opposition to the idea of prepaid meters. But, speaking to pressmen, the community people, who staged a motorcade protest to the headquarters of the DisCo at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday, challenged the power distribution company to produce evidence of the acclaimed signatures, adding that “there is no sane human being in tune with development who will not prefer prepaid meter to crazy and estimated bills by which the power company has swindled customers without value for their money.”
The protesting Ikeja Electric customers singing solidarity songs at the gate of the DisCo, in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday.
A source within the community, who refused to be identified, said the acclaimed signatures being referred to by Ikeja Electric source were the aluminum merchants who do businesses in the area, saying aluminum businessmen “who only do business but do not live within the community cannot dictate what mode of power management will suit us as community people.”
He said, “Most of the aluminum people here are doing trading which virtually does not require power and, therefore, one wonders how people who really do not need power to do their businesses in their host community will be believed by a DisCo licensed to provide power to law abiding people of Nigeria to be speaking for people who really need power to carryout most of their domestic activities and artisanship for better living,” the source said.
At the Ikeja Electric headquarters in Alausa, one Mr. Akinola, who said he was the official in charge of community matters in the company, led a team of other officials to attend to the protesters.
Speaking for others, Mr. Oluwasegun Funmi-Davies said, “We came here from Dopemu Community Agege. That is where the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly comes from and he is aware of what we are doing today. What we are saying is that, we are tired of being given estimated bills! We are tired of your playing on our intelligence in Dopemu Community! We want to be treated the way other communities like Akowonjo, Alimoso, Egbeda are treated! We want prepared meters! If there is no prepaid meters, please don’t come to our community for anything!
The protesters displaying their banners.
“We don’t want fight and we don’t want violence. We have come to tell you that we want prepaid meters to be installed into every building in Dopemu community and nothing will be accepted outside of that. And please, we will appreciate it if this will be taken with all seriousness.
“We are not here to fight. We are not here to insult anybody. You are here doing your business. We pay exorbitantly without being commensurately taken care of. We want electricity supplied to us adequately on prepaid meters. No more estimated bills. My house was built since 1974 and it is the meter of that time that is still there up till today. How will you give me accurate power consumption charges? Please we want prepaid meters!” He said.
After taking the brief by spokesman of the protesting customers, Funmi-Davies, the IE’s representative requested that they appoint seven people from among them, who would enter for a round-table with the company’s officials with a view to proffering a lasting solution to their power challenges.
A little drama ensued when a man purportedly said to be chief security officer of the company grew wild against journalists from Vanguard, The Nation and The DEFENDER, who were on ground to cover the protest. He insisted the journalists must not come into the company’s premises, a development that sparked off controversy as the protesters burst into anger until they were calmed down and the journalists agreed to stay back for peaceful deliberation to take place.
Emerging from the over 30 minutes closed door meeting, Mr. Olusegun Funmi-Davies addressed the press saying, “We have had a lengthy but deadlocked meeting because they insisted they would not adjust their crazy bills being served on our community. They however appealed to us to endure the crazy bills pending the time prepaid meters, which they said are not available now, will be ready. They could not tell us exactly when the prepaid meters will be available. The way we look at it, it is indefinite.
“We have therefore told them that until they are ready to give us prepaid meters, they should not come to Dopemu community and they must not disconnect our light. We will however go back home and brief our elders and that is what we stopped at as the meeting deadlocked,” Davies said.
A letter by Dopemu Community Development Association (CDA), signed by its Chairman, Rev. Olatunji Fagbemi and Secretary, Mr. Seyi Lasisi, addressed to the Managing Director of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company PLC, was presented to the Akintola-led team that met with the protesters during their roundtable meeting.
In the letter, the Dopemu community expressed dismal at what it described unfortunate attitude of the power distribution company towards electricity supply to the area saying they gave light only to justify their distribution of crazy bills and that the moment customers paid their bills they ceased supply.
The letter read in part: “The practice of your staff here is that as soon as bills are distributed and they are paid for, electricity supply to us would cease and our electricity supply would be sold to consumers in adjoining areas. Initially we thought it was just ordinary rumour but now it is evident that the rumour is true. Each time the Minister of Power, Works and Housing announces more electricity is being generated than what is being consumed – over 7,000 MW being generated against 5,000 MW being consumed yet we don’t get supply for up to fifteen (15) days in the month. We have carried out electricity supply surveys in many areas like Egbeda, Ikotun, Idimu and as far away as Sango Ota and have found out that electricity is much better than what we are supplied,” the Dopemu’s grievances were ventilated in the letter.
community’s demands
On what they expected should be solution from the company, the community said in the letter that Ikeja Electric should put in place, “a. Time frame for the supply and installation of prepaid meters to all electricity consumers in Dopemu. b. Stoppage of arbitrary prolong electricity outage for days without notice/reason. c. We are requesting your organisation to kindly put back our line on the formal line that has been supplying us (Dopemu) for adequate power supply.”
The letter dated January 10, 2018 revealed that Dopemu had for instance been supplied four out of 14 days between December 9 through 22, 2017 and that currently the area had not been supplied light for the past five days.
It however threatened that, in event that the DisCo failed to respondent satisfactorily to its letter, it would “take our case to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing; Electricity Regulatory Authority and Lagos State Government in alleviating the suffering of the masses of Nigerians” living in the area.
