The youths in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara on Friday protested outrageous billing by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC.
They also alleged sudden movement of the community’s electricity billing regime from Band C to Band A, leading to outrageous bills for the month of March.
The protesters gathered at Bareke roundabout in the metropolis as early as 8:00a.m carrying placards with various inscriptions amidst dancing and singing.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: ‘Omu-Aran Say No to Band A,’ ‘Mr Badmus Must Go,’ ‘Bring us Back to Band C,’ ‘Revert Omu-Aran to Band C,’ ‘Omu-Aran Youths Have Spoken Loudly,’ among others.
They accused the IBEDC Business Manager in the District, Mr A.O. Badmus of orchestrating the movement of the community’s billing from Band C to Band A, resulting in the crazy bills for the period under review.
According to the youth, the community is presently facing challenges of electricity supply which needed to be resolved before the sudden movement to Band A.
The current charges on some of the electricity bills for March sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent during the protest, range from N41,000 to N47,000 as against the old rate of between N10,000 and N15,000.
The protest took the youth to major streets in the community such as the Olomu market, Latinwo market Area, Olomu palace and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC)’s District office located inside Omu-Aran City Complex.
The protest also resulted in traffic gridlocked on major roads in the community.
A statement of demands by the youth signed by the President Omu-Aran Development Association, Mr Niyi Adeyeye and Elder Ranti Adebayo, Secretary, included non-replacement of faulty transformers leading to inconsistent electricity supply in some key areas of the community.
Others are reversion of the billing from Band A to the previous Band C, and improvement of electricity supply, suspension of Band A billings and review of the current charges to reflect the old billing regime, among others.
Receiving the protesters in his palace in Omu-Aran, the Olomu of Omu-Aran, Oba Abdulraheem Adeoti, urged them to be calm, saying that the community leaders were discussing with IBEDC officials to address the issues.
The IBEDC, Kwara State Communication Officer, Mr Gbenga Ajiboye said the issue of electricity regulation was the sole responsibility of the National Electricity Regulation Commission, NERC.
He maintained that electricity consumers enjoying 20 hours of supply are regulated by NERC to be on Band A in which Omu-Aran community is categorised presently.
Ajiboye described the development as a business issue between buyers and sellers, noting that high level discussions were ongoing to resolve the issue amicably.
NAN
