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Extortion: Ikeja DISCO to prosecute ex-PHCN employees

By BusinessNews Staff on January 13, 2014

The Ikeja Distribution Company has vowed to prosecute ex-employees of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria accused of extorting electricity customers under its network.

The company said this followed complaints by its customers in the 11 business units under the DISCO.

The Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs, IKEDC, Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, on Friday, said some people had been demanding payment for the purchase of prepaid meters or repairs of its equipment in locations under the 11 business units.

According to Adeyanju, IKEDC’s business units are located in Abule-Egba, Akowonjo, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Ikotun, Ipaja, Odogunyan, Ogba, Ojodu, Oshodi and Somolu.

He said, “It has come to our notice that some former PHCN personnel have been extorting money from members of the public under the guise of receiving contributions towards the repairs of equipment in their localities and purchase of prepaid meters. For the avoidance of doubt, no former PHCN worker or IKEDC worker is authorised to make such demands.”

Adeyanju stressed that the company remained solely responsible for the supply, repairs, and replacement of its equipment.

“We urge the public to rebuff these impostors and report such cases to the nearest IKEDC office,” Adayenju said.

The company warned that it was a criminal offence for unathourised persons to tamper with any IKEDC facility or equipment, adding that defaulters would be prosecuted.

Adeyanju said, the company had embarked on an upgrade of its customer care centre at its 11 business units to accelerate complaint resolution and respond promptly to issues of metering, estimated billing, shedding and vandalism, among others.

He said IKEDC was partnering with relevant authorities to address vandalism of its equipment and urged consumers to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities around equipment in their areas to the law enforcement agencies as well as IKEDC.

“It is imperative that people who ask for their rights should first be responsible to the society,” Adeyanju said.

IKEDC said it had spent N11m on the replacement of vandalised distribution equipment within its network in the past six months.

Adeyanju said, “The replacement of the vandalised substations cost the company over N11m. The 42 transformer distribution substations were vandalised at various times in the past six months by vandals, thus throwing various communities into darkness.”

According to him, the N11m spent on replacing the vandalised equipment would have been better utilised in procuring new materials for network expansion.

The management of the DISCO also said it had commenced customer education campaigns aimed at creating awareness on the ongoing efforts to improve service delivery and encourage customer involvement in ensuring the success of the power reform.

Adeyanju said the new management of IKEDC had been holding inaugural Town Hall meetings across its various locations in a bid to establishing a road-map towards providing uninterrupted quality power supply to all its consumers in the nearest future.

[Punch]

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