The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) has threatened to shut down power supply in the entire Etche local government area of Rivers State over the attack on its member, Gboro Benjamin, by some residents of the region.
SSAEAC deputy general secretary, South East and South South, Innocent Lord-Douglas, disclosed this while speaking with reporters in Port Harcourt at the weekend.
Lord-Douglas said Benjamin, a staff of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC), was attacked by electricity consumers while on official duty to check prepaid meters bypass at Diamond Estate, along Shell Location Road in Umuebule IV, Etche.
He explained that the attack on the PHED staff member, also the association’s Occupational Health and Safety Officer in distribution company Beta II Area, occurred at the residence of a company customer with meter number 0124000344273.
Douglas said: “Due to the rampant cases of prepaid meter bypass customers in the system, our members do go about on meters’ checking.
“Besides, these meters are not customers’ personal property but properties of the Discos. So Benjamin asked for access to check Nnabuike George’s meter, reportedly being shared with a bar in the area. They introduced themselves to the woman and wanted to check their meter.
“The woman offered him a stool to stand on to check the meter; while the process was going on, of course, to know if the meter was bypassed or not, he tapped on the code to check for bypass and told the woman that some lights were still on.”
The deputy general secretary noted that the woman got angry and pushed him down from the stool he was standing on while shouting at her son. She said, “The son came. They are sharing the apartment or store with a beer bar, and hoodlums come out of that place.”
“The son picked up a club and hit his eye, I think his left eye, and the hoodlums started beating him. He wasn’t there alone, but other colleagues were doing the same thing in different shops or apartments (sic).
“So, when the noise started rising, they saw that that was happening. They went to protect their members, and all of them were beating at one stage or the other, including a lady that went with them.”
Douglas said that after learning of the incident, he informed some PHED officials to get the Police to arrest the culprits.
He said: “By the time the Chief Security Officer of PHED got to Oyigbo Police Station, the man’s wife had already initiated the case.
“On inquiry, the man who claimed to be the Divisional Police Officer wasn’t the DPO; he was the Investigating Police Officer, one Innocent Ogbekile, whom we learnt is a friend to the woman.
“He threatened our people with mob attacks from area boys of the area if we took off the supply from the area and even threatened to beat up the CSO of PHED”.
He also noted that the SSAEAC has issued a four-day ultimatum for the woman to be arrested, or PHED Beta II will shut out the electricity supply from Etche local government area.
Douglas said: “As a union, we have given an ultimatum to PHED. Suppose that woman is not arrested between yesterday and Monday (four days). In that case, we are going to shut down supply in all Etche local government because nobody beat our member who went to do his legitimate job, and the community will enjoy supply.
“If we shut down the local government and nothing is happening, we will know what will happen between the union and PHED, and we may even continue to shut down the supply in Rivers State”.
Douglas vowed that unprovoked attacks on members doing their legitimate work would be resisted and that the association would leave no stone unturned until justice was seen done to all.
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