From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
This is not the best of times for residents of Okpoko community, Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State.
Okpoko, a suburb of Onitsha, is regarded as Anambra’s urban slum, inhabited by large numbers of low-income earners and dominated by bungalows, shanties and improvised buildings.
Residents of the area lack good roads, pipe-borne water, decent shelter and other necessities of life despite producing various professionals and people doing well in their respective endeavours over the years.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo, prior to his inauguration, made a promise to start work on urban renewal from Okpoko. He made good his promise by visiting the area immediately after his swearing in and commenced the evacuation of heaps of refuse dotting the community.
As part of his urban renewal programme in the area, some houses reportedly built on waterways in the area have been marked for demolition.
The demolition notice brought apprehension among the residents as the would-be victims of the planned demolition wait with bated breath on government’s next move in this direction.
But the raging battle now in Okpoko is their case with the management of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) over what the residents described as long years of exploitation, extortion and ‘crazy’ estimated billing system by the EEDC.
The Okpoko residents, in several letters and petitions, accused EEDC Ogbaru Unit of “astronomical and estimated billings, double billing, collection of payments for services not rendered, calculated negligence and denial of fundamental rights including intimidation.”
Daily Sun gathered that efforts to address the stated issues started years back in the area when the leadership of Okpoko Development Union led the struggle. At a time, the residents felt that the Okpoko governing body was not pursuing the matter with the required verve and vigour and that gave birth to a pressure group in the area known as Concerned Landlords and Residents of Okpoko led by Chief Christian Achionye as Chairman and Obumneke Ohiagu as Secretary.
The concerned residents immediately mobilised residents of Okpoko in their numbers running into about 1000 and commenced regular meetings on how to address the EEDC challenge.
The group wrote series of letters dated 28th September 2021, 10th November, 2021, 15th December 2021 and the latest letter June 1, where they requested for disconnection and withdrawal of electricity distribution and supply services in Okpoko layout from EEDC, if they fail to address their long standing complaints by stoppage of estimated high billings and the provision of standardised digital meters to the residents.
The Okpoko consumers accused the management of the EEDC of using the NESl/NERC repealed estimate billings methodology since 2018 contrary to the order/NERC/197/2020 page 6 schedule (A), page 7, schedule (D), .
They alleged wrong and dubious categorization in their capping of their houses to back up what they described as greedy and over estimated invoicing on the peasant residents in Okpoko locality contrary to amended order on capping of estimated billings for EEDC order no/NERC/213/2020 page 20.
They also accused the electricity authority of non transparent billings on their houses, continuous threats and frequent disconnection of their houses which delays in settling of the alleged crazy, outrageous and unfounded bills contrary to consumer rights and obligations as ordered by NERC in articles 5, 6 and 7.
They also expressed dissatisfaction for the refusal of the management of the company to make refunds of the money they allegedly collected individually and collectively from electricity consumers under duress; in lieu of the all the monthly over-invoicing amounting to N5billion against NERC directives in articles 8 and 10.
Other allegations against the management of EEDC included consistent use of intimidation to exploit and extort money from electricity consumers in Okpoko and its environs through tactical refusal to make replacement or repair electricity transformers, poles and related equipment used in the course of their business of electricity supply.
They noted that their resolution to the management of EEDC for disconnection and withdrawal of their services in the area was adopted as self-measures to ensure the survival of the electricity consumers in Okpoko after all peaceful overtures have failed.
“The Okpoko community Electricity Consumers will no longer tolerate actions from you that are not in conformity with NERC regulations even though we have taken instructions that your management employs the services of Police, military and paramilitary to threaten us within our community to obey your unethical practices” their letter to EEDC stated.
But the agitation suddenly took a different dimension when the group fell out with the leadership of Okpoko Development Union.
The town union executives of Okpoko led by its President General, Chief Francis Enemuo, allegedly rose against the group and issued a disclaimer that the Concerned Residents and Landlords of Okpoko was unknown to the town union. Enemuo, in a letter to the Network Manager of EEDC, Ogbaru unit dated June 16 and obtained by Daily Sun urged the unit and the police to deal ruthlessly with the group.
Allegedly acting based on Enemuo’s letter, the police swooped on Chief Achionye and the leadership of the Concerned Residents, arrested them and after detaining them charged them to court for breach of public peace.
Daily Sun gathered that the presiding Magistrate would have remanded them in prison custody if not for the intervention of some lawyers in court that day that rose to their defence and told the Magistrate that they were born and brought up in Okpoko and knew the circumstances of the matter.
Two days after their release from court, the chairman of the concerned residents, Chief Achionye, suddenly died in his home in the night.
His sudden death infuriated the members of the Concerned Residents and they accused the leadership of the town union of having a hand in his death.
Last Monday, over 1000 members of the Concerned Residents converged again at Onitsha, baying for blood. They chanted war songs even as they wept over the death of Achionye whom they said died a martyr in fighting for the liberation of Okpoko.
Some of the stakeholders in the group who spoke, including Macsam Aballah, Raphael Agu, Chief Dom Ezebuenyi attributed Achionye’s sudden death to two factors-trauma occasioned by the stress of his detention in cell and sudden arraignment in court. They also mentioned spiritual remote control by some forces at the town union executive who saw him as a threat to their activities.
The large gathering also carried placards with several inscriptions against EEDC and the leadership of the Okpoko town union. They accused the leadership of collecting N5million bribe from EEDC to silence them and also backing EEDC officials with police and vigilante operatives as they embark on mass disconnection of residents.
A stakeholder, Okwudili Ibeneme, moved a motion for a vote of no confidence on Chief Enemuo which received an overwhelming support from the audience.
They vowed to continue the struggle for the liberation of Okpoko from all forms of maladministration and intimidation even as they called on Soludo to come to their aid in the present impasse.
When contacted, EEDC Head of Public Communications, Emeka Eze, said the company has its own ways and method of billing customers based on availability of services rendered. He said there are nothing like crazy bills in EEDC methodology.
He said: “The people are fighting a wrong battle. There are appropriate channels of reporting complaints by consumers if there is any issue. The customer service channel is there and they should go and lodge their complaints there and it will be addressed. NERC has designed a redress mechanism and it is working. If they have issues, its not about gathering in one place and threatening fire. There is also a metering process ongoing, if they need it, they should go and pay for that. The other metering that is given free has not started running presently.”
When contacted, Enemuo denied ever receiving a dime as bribe from EEDC. He said his leadership issued a disclaimer on the Concerned Residents because they had overstepped their boundaries by writing to EEDC to disconnect the entire Okpoko without recourse to the leadership of the town union.
He said total disconnection of Okpoko layout from light is a recipe for disaster because blackout will breed high level of criminality in the area. He also washed his hands off the accusation of any complicity in the death of Achionye and said he was also saddened by the man’s death.