Isoko, Ndokwa protest power outage
By Festus Ahon
UGHELLI—THE people of Isoko and Ndokwa in Delta State, yesterday, staged a peaceful protest against the management of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, over the epileptic power supply to their area and called on PHCN management to install a circuit breaker to serve the new line to the area.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Chief Iduh Amadhe, decried the problem of epileptic power supply to the area, which he argued has had negative affected on the socio-economic lives of the people, adding that the problem has complicated the problem of unemployment in the Isoko and Ndokwa nations.
He lamented that the people of the area were suffering from the problem of load shedding, saying, “in December, 2009, we had expecting a separate circuit breaker to be installed for the new line and isolators connected at the off points to enable us have stable electricity supply.
“The Isoko and Ndokwa people have been in the forefront for the realization of a second 33KV bye-pass line for the past four years and with the pressure from Delta State government and cooperation of the business manager, this was achieved.
“The two 33KV lines are being utilized by Ughelli township network and consumers in Isoko and Ndokwa areas are left to suffer. This has made life unbearable and very uncomfortable for the citizenry.”
“In addition, security of life and property in the area is equally being threatened and men of the underworld and unscrupulous elements are exploiting the dark nights to unleash terror on us.â€
Addressing the protesters, Chairman of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Ughelli Power Plc chapter, Mr Moses Obukor, appealed to them to exercise patience, adding that their request would be communicated to the Benin zone of the company for appropriate action.
Saying that the business of the power station was just to generate power, he disclosed that PHCN has been broken into 18 independent companies, adding that the station was operating in full capacity.
