Umuahia residents protest 200% electricity bill hike
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…From N9,000 to N47,000 monthly estimated billing per household
By Steve Oko
Umuahia — There was tension in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, on Monday as residents of the World Bank Housing Estate staged a peaceful protest over what they described as an outrageous hike in their monthly estimated electricity bills by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
The aggrieved residents, who marched through major streets of the metropolis, said their bills were suddenly raised from about N9,000 to between N47,000 and N50,000 per household.
Brandishing placards with inscriptions such as “World Bank Cries Out: Power Bills Higher Than House Rent” and “Estimated Billing Illegal and Criminal”, the protesters called on both the EEDC and the Abia State Government to intervene urgently.
They argued that most residents are civil servants and low-income earners, stressing that it was unreasonable to pay electricity bills that surpass their monthly house rent.
Speaking during a meeting with EEDC officials after the protest, President of the Estate Residents’ Association, Mrs. Florence Kanu, said the sudden increment in the July bills came as a rude shock.
“How do you explain a situation where someone who was billed N9,000 in June suddenly receives a bill of N47,000 in July? Many of our residents earn less than N80,000 as salary,” she lamented.
Mrs Kanu also complained that when residents applied for prepaid meters, they were told to pay N100,000, insisting that prepaid meters should be issued free of charge to enable consumers monitor their energy use and avoid arbitrary billing.
Responding, the Umuahia District Operations Manager of EEDC, Engineer Amaga, explained that the increase was due to the reclassification of the estate under the Band A metering category.
He added that the bills were generated through estimated metering and assured that the concerns of the residents would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.
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