A cross section of middle-age women in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Tuesday flooded the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company to protest the prolonged power outage in some major parts of the state.
In a mild drama, the women who trooped into the Mile 2 and Mile 3 axis of Diobu, Port Harcourt blocked the PHED office near the Isaac Boro Park in Port Harcourt, chanting that their husbands barely have time with them at night due to increased heat waves caused by epileptic electricity supply.
The protesting women who carried placards with different inscriptions marched through major streets in Diobu, including Wokoma, Dim, Wokoma lane, Obaziolu, Dim lane, Egbuagu, Azikiwe, and Ojoto Streets before heading to the PHED office to draw attention to their displeasure.
Meanwhile, the inscriptions on the placards displayed by the Rivers women read;
“We lack romance with our husbands’, ‘Our husbands no longer touch us at night’, No light no payment’, ‘The heat is too much,’ ‘PHED help us to sleep well with our husbands’, among others.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one of the Rivers women stated they also find it difficult to preserve cooked foods for weeks, pointing out that the situation has impacted negatively on their businesses.
“This lack of light (electricity) is making our soup sour. Even when our husbands want to make love to us, the heat will not allow it. We can’t even charge our phones and preserve our food. We are worried.” She stated.
While lamenting the plight of paying light bills monthly without a corresponding power supply, the woman listed the areas mostly affected by the power outage to include; Dim, Wokama, Azikiwe, and Ojoto streets, even as they expressed dismay
It was gathered that the protesting women vowed to re-mobilize and come for another round of peaceful protest if the nothing positive was done to address the issue.
Another protester simply identified as Nene, added;
“This protest is for PHED to give us light. We are paying bills but not seeing the light. Our pot of soup getting bad, and even having sex with our husbands is a problem because of heat.
“Last night, my husband wanted to have fun with me but the heat was too much, and I could not. We could not do anything. So PHED should give us light or else we will not pay the bill for this month.”
Meantime, the Public Relations Officer with the PEHD, Livingstone Koko, when contacted, revealed that the current power situation was beyond the control of the company, saying it is a value chain issue
“It is a value chain constraint. It is beyond our control. However, we also share their sentiments and try to let them know that we are working with other players in the industry to ensure that supply is being restored.
“It is nothing short of what is being experienced around the country. So we are aware of the challenge and we apologize and ask them to bear with us.” He maintained.
