PHED Restores Power Supply To Nyanasang After Prolonged Blackout

Jun 12, 2023 - 11:56

0 22

By Edem ITA

Residents of the Nyanasang community, Calabar metropolis, heaved a sigh of relief over the weekend when Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, restored electricity supply to the area after months of blackout following a standoff.

Trouble started when an electricity pole along the area was accidentally hit by a motorist, with the incident attributed to break failure and poor visibility owing to a heavy downpour.

Despite suffering heavy damage to his car, the motorist (names withheld) opted to replace the affected pole and went ahead to procure a new one while pledging to pay for the replacement.

Our source revealed that the PHED headquarters in Calabar was subsequently contacted to handle the proceedings through the office of the Zonal Manager, Mr. Gabriel Modupe.

Feelers from the community revealed that the outrageous bill from the PHED zonal office in respect of the job compelled the party to explore cheaper alternatives which entailed assigning the contract to some PHED staff without further recourse to the Zonal Manager.

According to Etim Asuquo who resides in the area, "Since the area was already without light since April due to repair works on the transformer, it was easy to mount the new pole and run the fallen lines without resorting to the Manager who must be notified of any outage within his purview."

However, upon discovering that the job has been executed without his knowledge, Mr. Modupe allegedly ordered the disconnection of the entire community thus plunging the over three thousand inhabitants of the area into total darkness for what he termed an "illegal connection."

"When contacted on the phone, the PHED Zonal Boss insisted that the community must produce the motorist who hit the pole "to pay for loss of revenue suffered by his office due to the blackout before reconnection can be considered."

Speaking to The Beagle News, another resident of the area, Chief Baron Eyo said "I can not understand why PHED can be so insensitive to the plight of their consumers in Nyanasang given the harsh economic realities compounded by the subsidy removal."

"I equally called Mr. Gabriel Modupe, the PHED Zonal Manager and he told me we have to produce the said driver to pay for the loss of revenue before he can reconnect us. When I told him that he is the one responsible for the revenue lost given that most of us are on pre-paid meters, he dropped the phone on me."

"At the end, I had to petition the national and regional offices of the National Electricity Regulatory Agency, NERC as well as the public complaint desk in the Presidency through report.gov.ng to get Mr. Modupe to reconnect us."

The Beagle News recalled that in April 2017, 30 soccer fans were electrocuted while 50 survived with various degrees of burnt with a high-tension bare conductor snapped and fell on a soccer viewing center packed with fans watching a UEFA Europa League match following an explosion from a nearby substation known amongst the locals as 1st Transformer.

PHED is yet to compensate affected families nor replace the overloaded transformer still exploding intermittently till now.