Residents of Ebonyi state have lamented the failure of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to restore electricity supply to the state, 48 hours after the organized labour called off its industrial actions on Tuesday.

Some of the residents who spoke to The Nation in Abakaliki, the state capital, lamented that states like Enugu, Imo, and other parts of Nigeria had their light restored on Tuesday shortly after the strike was called off.

They wondered why the electricity Distribution Company is yet to restore light in the entire Ebonyi state.

The residents expressed sadness that between Monday 2^nd June 2024 when the supply was cut off, and today Thursday 26^th June 2024, they have lost billions of Naira and called on the relevant authorities to ensure that light is restored to the State as soon as possible.

A resident and business owner at the Abakaliki Timber Market, Mr. Chidi Ifejioba wondered why other southeast states have since gotten power supply while Ebonyi have been left out.

He said: “I don’t know if Ebonyi is not part of the States in the country, why people would always look down on us? Organized Labour called off the industrial actions on Tuesday and that same Tuesday, EEDC restored light to Enugu same day, there is Light in Imo State and other States of the country but today is Thursday, and there is no sign of light anywhere in Ebonyi state.

“Are we in Ebonyi not part of the electricity consumers? We spent thousands of naira to run the generator to remain in business and many of us who can’t cope had to shut down waiting for EEDC to restore light.

“The strike is becoming more harm than good to residents and I believe that those handling electricity supply should not join in the strike action again.

Another resident and a printer, Emeka Obiora called on the Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru to urgently intervene and ensure that EEDC restores light to the State.

“I am a printer, there are many jobs there to print and I have already collected advance payment from my customers. We had already concluded on the price believing that I would run the machine on public power supply, but now am constrained. How much fuel am I going to use to run the machine for 5 days?

“Everybody in the State is now affected. Millions are lost each day the electricity Distribution company cuts off the light, now think of cutting off the supply for 4 days. It’s so disheartening.

“The unfortunate thing is that only Ebonyi State is affected. The management of the company is not even giving us any hope or explanations.

The residents solicited the support of the State Government to urgently intervene to address the unfortunate issue before residents began to get so agitated.

Efforts to get EEDC’s Head of Communication, Emeka Ezeh’s reaction were not successful as he did not take calls or reply messages sent to him. (The Nation)

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