Aba Power Electricity Company warns residents against disconnecting neighbours

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Aba Power Limited Electricity Company (APLE) on Tuesday, warned residents against disconnecting their neighbours on behalf of the company for whatever reasons.

It argued that no one was authorised to do so.

The Managing Director, APLE, Mr. Patrick Umeh, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Aba.

Umeh was speaking against the backdrop of an incident that occurred between one Mr. Chucks Nwachukwu and landlords of Silent Spring Estate, in Osisioma, near Aba.

Giving detailed explanation of the development, the managing director noted that APLE did not ask anyone to disconnect Nwachukwu on its behalf.

He, however said that the residents of the estate had an issue with Nwachukwu, in connection with power supply, which informed their decision to get him disconnected.

Umeh stated that the men, allegedly involved in the case, had been warned to henceforth, desist from taking laws into their hands, for whatever reason.

“The residents disconnected Nwachukwu because of an issue they were having and we told them that such action was wrong. We told them not to do it to any other person.

“They have been warned not to do it. In fact that matter has been reported to the Police right now,” he said.

Umeh, however, added that APLE, having found out that Nwachukwu was owing some supply bill arrears, would not reconnect him, until he paid the debt, owed the company.

On his part, Nwachukwu told NAN that his trouble with the landlords of his estate began when a transformer supplying the estate broke down few years ago and the power company did nothing to restore their supply.

He said that the estate residents made several efforts, which some persons allegedly used in defrauding the residents and at the end of the day, the plan to reconnect the estate failed.

According to him, later, some of the landlords decided to levy all the landlords in the estate to pay about N3 million to the owner of one of the private transformers in the estate, for connection.

He explained that he refused to pay the said amount, because it was illegal and that led to the decision by the landlords to disconnect him from power supply.

Nwachukwu noted that he then reported the development to the APLE, which eventually led to the resolution of the issue as well as to his being reconnected.

He, however, said that the landlords of the estate, after a while, allegedly went again and disconnected his power supply and threatened to harm him and his family, which made him report the matter to the police.

A representative of the estate’s landlords, Pastor Ademe Ejeh said that he had been playing both the spiritual and physical roles, to ensure a peaceful resolution of the issue in the estate.

According to him, there are so many personalities with diverse ways of handling issues living in the estate.

He added that he had made efforts to get Nwachukwu to understand this and calm down for peace to prevail.

Ejeh noted that after the landlords’ meeting with APLE, they promised to reconnect Nwachukwu, but advised him to go to the landlords and settle their differences.

He said that although he worked hard to convince Nwachukwu to ensure the matter was resolved by pleading with him to make some payments, Nwachukwu refused to accede to his pleas.

Ejeh said it was Nwachukwu’s refusal to pay the levy handed him by the landlords, that had pitched the landlords against him and escalated the matter.

However, APLE has reported the matter to the police to ensure that residents did not continue the disconnection of Nwachukwu and endanger the neighbourhood.