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A foundation, Prince Children Foundation (PCF) in Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos, on Tuesday accused Ikeja Electric (IE) officials of misconduct and violation of human rights.
Mr Adegoke Fadayiro, the National Coordinator of PCF, made the accusation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Fadayiro said that the officials of IE invaded the area with men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), leading to panic and chaos among residents and children in the community.
According to him, on Sept.19 around 4.00 p.m, children were playing on the streets when officials of IE arrived with men of the civil defence corps armed with guns.
“They were chasing residents in the community with guns, while trying to disconnect power supply to the area over unsettled bills…
“IE officials were terrorising the residents with security personnel, while trying to disconnect electric service lines to individual homes.
“This is ridiculous, and it is a gross misconduct, violation of human rights and child rights,’’ he said.
Fadayiro said that some parts of the community had been experiencing power outage for the past two months when electricity supply to the area was disconnected.
The PCF national coordinator said that he reported the rights violation to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Ikeja on Sept. 23.
“The NERC sent a message to us to meet IE officials on Dec.13, but we were disappointed when we got to the venue and were only told that the hearing had been postponed indefinitely without any reason.
“We want justice to be done, that is why we wrote NERC, as the only regulatory body, to seek redress.
“Now, we do not know if NERC is supporting IE by postponing the hearing indefinitely, while we are languishing in darkness and our rights being violated,’’ he said.
In his reaction, Mr Felix Ofulue, Head of Corporate Communications at IE, told NAN that some consumers were reconnecting electricity illegally after they had been disconnected.
According to him, company officials were disallowed by residents from carrying out the disconnection when they got to the community for the second time to recover service wires.
“This prompted the company to request for the service of men of NSCDC to forestall attacks on our officials while carrying out their lawful duties,’’ he said.
(Source: NAN)
