Members of the Licence Electrical Contractors of Nigeria (LECAN), Osun State chapter, on Thursday staged a protest against the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over alleged exploitation of residents.
The protest, led by Prophet Michael Adebayo, the state chairman of LECAN, in Osogbo, alleged that IBEDC fraudulently exploits customers by charging them a minimum of N100,000 on newly created accounts, even before joining the grid.
He noted that this unknown debt is transferred into the customer’s prepaid meters, forcing them to pay for services never rendered.
He said, “Unfortunately, IBEDC Workers have usurped the responsibility of licensed contractors only to turn into tormentors who wickedly exploit the residents/customers.
“As ordinary residents, we are now at the mercy of IBEDC workers to get an electricity metre, who ordinarily should be responsible for connection to the national grid. Due to excruciating conditions, IBEDC workers have become a barrier to residents joining the grid.
They have made ordinary account generation a problem to exploit innocent and unsuspecting customers.”
Furthermore, the protesters alleged that customers with faulty meters, instead of replacing such meters, are forced to pay for new ones or be placed on direct or estimated billing, turning them into perpetual debtors.
Adebayo also said that some customers, whose electricity metres required that their cards be submitted for metre upgrade, IBEDC have refused to return their cards, describing it as Illegal.
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