BEDC: Mosogar Community Protests Over 7-Year Blackout, Block Major Road

Residents of Mosogar community in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State on Monday protested against the management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) over alleged failure to provide light to the community for the past 7 years.

The said protesters blocked the ever busy Mosogar part of the Benin – Warri highway leading to a gridlock that lasted from 6p.m. to 11am.

The thousands of placard carrying protesters said the community has been in darkness for over 6 years and efforts to restore light to the community has met one brick wall or the other.

Also amongst their demand was a call for the withdrawal of the company’s license for incompetence.

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Ashe Kingsley, a resident of Mosogar community, told journalists that the community has been in darkness for over 6 years and all efforts to bring light to the community have been thwarted by BEDC, adding that they are protesting against darkness.

President General of the community, Chief Columbus Akporoka disclosed that though Governor Ifeanyi Okowa kept to his part of the promise to provide transformers to power the community, “the contractor has been working on the project and it’s about eighty percent completed, as he called on the protesters to exercise patience.

A former Ethiope West council chairman, Dr Wilson Omene said the power issue was now becoming a thing of extortion, with some of the community leaders demanding for cash at every given point.

Adding: “Let them tell us where we stand, you can’t expect us to buy transformer, donate it to BEDC. We wrote to BEDC, National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and other government agencies.

“We have met with BEDC for a way forward, but all to no avail. We are paying our bills and it is the duty of the service provider to replace any damaged installation, and any issue they will ask us to pay” accusing the power contractor of working for some faceless politicians.

Reacting to the development, Adekunle Tayo, the head of BEDC Corporate Affairs, Benin City, said the Delta State government has awarded the power installation project to a contractor, saying that he is not aware if the contractor has finished the project or not.”