Planned protest over poor electricity in Anambra called off over alleged security concerns

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By Madu Obi

Saturday's planned protest organized by the Electricity Consumers Rights Network against epileptic power supply in Anambra State has been called off due to suspected security challenges.

The protest was meant to highlight growing frustration among residents over erratic electricity supply despite the introduction of Band A tariffs.

Addressing reporters in Awka on Friday, the convener of the group, Comrade Osita Obi, however, said that the protest had only been suspended and not cancelled.

According to Obi, the decision to suspend the protest followed concerns raised by security agencies, including the police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Anambra State government ahead of Governor Chukwuma Soludo's second term inauguration on March 17.

The agencies, he added, also expressed fears that the protest could be hijacked by hoodlums, disclosing that he had received more than 157 threatening calls urging him to call off the protest.

Denying the allegation that he had been compromised, Obi said: “Having listened to these people, we decided to suspend the protest, but not cancel it."

He said that he would not want to take any action that might not augur well for the state and urged electricity consumers in the state to rather attend a town hall meeting scheduled by the state government- sponsored FirstPower for March 18, where they would have the opportunity to ask questions about the power situation in the state.

He, however, decried the quality of power supply in the state, noting that electricity supply has become inconsistent and unreliable.