Residents of Minna, the Niger State capital, on Thursday staged a peaceful protest over persistent power outages and what they described as exploitative estimated electricity billing by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
The protest, convened by human rights activist and Chief Executive Officer of Human Rights Radio, Lanre Sadiq, attracted residents, civil society groups and youth organisations who marched through major streets of the city to demand improved electricity supply and the immediate deployment of prepaid meters.
Speaking during the protest, Sadiq criticised the continued use of estimated billing, describing it as exploitative and unfair to consumers.
He noted that many households receive inflated electricity bills despite experiencing poor and inconsistent power supply.
According to him, some residents in small apartments pay as much as ₦46,000 monthly under the estimated billing system.
He also called on the distribution company to comply with the Federal Government’s directive on metering electricity customers, stressing that prepaid meters promote transparency and ensure that consumers only pay for the electricity they actually use.
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Sadiq added that the era when communities contributed funds to purchase transformers, cables and other electricity infrastructure should come to an end.
Also speaking, human rights campaigner Abdullahi Jabi of the Campaign for Democracy said the protest was aimed at drawing attention to the negative impact of poor electricity supply on economic activities and security across the state. He noted that persistent power outages have crippled businesses and contributed to rising insecurity in several communities.
Jabi emphasised that the protesters were law-abiding citizens and had no intention of vandalising electricity facilities, but rather sought constructive engagement with the distribution company to improve service delivery.
The protesters also urged electricity providers to ensure fair and equitable distribution of power across communities and to respond promptly to technical faults and outages.
Responding to the protesters, the Acting Managing Director of the Niger State Electricity Distribution Company, Samuel Odekina, acknowledged the concerns raised and assured residents that efforts were underway to improve electricity supply in the coming days. He said the management had taken note of the demands and would review the issues presented by the demonstrators.
Odekina, however, reminded consumers that electricity supplied must be paid for, while assuring that the company would continue to engage with residents to address their concerns.
Earlier, the protesters assembled at Tunga Roundabout near Access Bank before marching peacefully to the regional office of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company along UK Bello Road in Minna, where they formally presented their demands.
The organisers maintained that the demonstration was conducted peacefully and in accordance with the law, noting that security agencies had been duly notified before the protest.
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