They asserted that APL had hired some police officers who went around several tailor clusters and harassed people under the pretence of collecting electricity bills, despite the business city’s erratic power supply.
However, Chief Commercial Officer (COO) of Aba Power, Blessing Ogbe, debunked the allegations, saying the tailors clusters had feeders with meter recordings of power they consume, which they were refusing to pay for.
The protesting tailors equally accused APL officials of coming with soldiers to their business locations, at weekends to disconnect their power supply and scare customers, shop owners and apprentices away from the area.
One of them, Ikenna Agu, appealed to the government to protect him and his colleagues from the extortionist activities of those he claimed were destroying the entrepreneurship spirit of young people in Aba.
“I’m a youth. We all left our various villages to come to Aba to be useful. We have been very productive in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) creativity in Aba and doing well, but APL is trying to drive us out of business and ruin our lives.
“How can my small shop be paying N18,000 monthly, when I don’t have up to 24 hours of light in a full month?” Agu queried, adding that the money was besides what they spend buying fuel to power their generators when there was no light. Another tailor, Ugochukwu Iheme, said the authorities were making life unbearable for them stressing that they engaged in the demonstration to expose fraudulent acts found to be inherent in APL activities in Aba.
“In my business location, we’re 21, but whenever APL brings bills, they usually bring 28 bills making it an extra seven that we don’t understand. Each of the bills has N18,000 as monthly fee. The APL is forcing us to pay for what we don’t understand.”
Ebere Okoro, who also joined in the protest, told Daily Sun: “My problem is that the amount they’re demanding in the name of bill is not commensurate with the power supplied. The billing system here is outrageous.
“No part of Nigeria will accept what APL is doing in Aba, because they’re killing businesses and the government seems not to care about the protests that many residents have been doing since last year. We pay more, they serve us less. I don’t understand.”
When contacted, Ogbe debunked the allegations, stressing that the tailors cluster was on the feeder with most of the commercial activities. He said APL had always ensured that the feeder serving the tailors was on between the hours of nine o’clock in the morning to six in the evening, daily.
“The tailors are not on our estimated billing system as we ensure that the NERC capping order is applied. Let them bring the bill to contest the capping of that month.”
He accused the tailors of trying to cut corners, noting that he had seen a situation in which up to 30 tailors in a cluster would want to pay a bill of three tailors.
Ogbe said APL was always open to dialogue, as efforts were in top gear to ensure improved power supply in Aba. Abia State Commissioner for Trade, Commerce and Industry, Dr. Chimezie Ukaegbu, said he was unaware of the protest and complaint of the tailors.
He, however, promised that government would act when it formally gets a report on it to ascertain the details, saying the present administration in Abia would tolerate extortion of its residents.
“Extortion is illegal as long as it is truly extortion. But another thing is for us to know if it is really extortion. It may be legitimate, but a legitimate thing could be done wrongly. We have to check if it’s extortion or a legitimate fee. The timing and how it was done. One thing is very certain, we’re always on the side of the traders and our citizens.
“We’re all out to alleviate their pains. We don’t want to increase their burden. We also have to understand that the DisCo is in business and wants to make a profit.
“But I always tell them, that though you’re in business to make profit, you must not maximize the profit. Make it in a way that it’ll be suitable and moderate for all and that is why we’ll step in.”