By; ADAMA JOHN, Lokoja
The indigenes of Lokoja Local Government Area in Lokoja, the state capital on Tuesday, staged a peaceful protest to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) Area office to present their complaints on the constant power outage in the state.
The aggrieved residents asked the company to expedite action on the poor supply, as the lack of power was crippling businesses in the state.
The protesters who were led by the chairman of a pressure group under the aegis of ‘Light up Movement’, Mallam Illiasu Zakari lamented that they had been experiencing outages before the celebration of Christmas and New Year to the present time and AEDC did nothing to correct anomaly.
Apparently pressed to the wall by the negative consequences of the power outage, the consumers decided to mobilise for the next phase of their demands.
Enough of AEDC surcharging us and putting the movement in bad light in the minds of the public while reneging on all agreements reached in previous engagements.”
Among placards displayed by the protesters with inscriptions such were “We are tired of frequent power outage, epileptic power supply in Lokoja and its environs”, “AEDC should give us light to boost our economic fortunes in the state.” stop the outrageous billings”.
One of the protesters, Inuwa Isa, said electricity was not always available, even before the celebration of Christmas and New year as residents were always left in darkness.
However, the Area Manager of AEDC in Lokoja, Emmanuel Ajibogun, who attended to the aggrieved residents commended the protesters for their peaceful conduct and promised to look into their grievances.
He assured the protesters that a roundtable discussion will be held with the leadership of the community as soon as possible.
The most affected are residents, iron fabricators, petty traders, restaurants and bars, sachet water sellers who complained of poor sales among all the sectors of the economy.
