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Monday, 9 September 2019

Benin Disco Condemns Use of Touts to Extort Electricity Consumers


Image result for The Managing Director of BEDC, Mrs. Funke Osibodu,




The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has said some of its fraudulent staff are to blame for the use of touts for illegal connection and extortion of customers under the guise of repairs or purchase of accessories like transformers and electricity poles.

The company, however, said some staff found to have engaged touts to extort unsuspecting customers in Delta State had been handed over to the police for prosecution with some shown the way out, assuring customers that it had put adequate measures in place to check the ugly development, which has often led to avoidable friction between the company and its customers.

The Managing Director of BEDC, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Asaba shortly after the graduation ceremony for the 2018/2019 graduate and technical trainee programmes, said the future is bright for power supply in its area of jurisdiction.

She also disclosed that BEDC was ready to commence the long-awaited metering process in Delta State, especially for its customers in Asaba, the state capital, as well as the Warri/Effurun axis.

A total of 134 BEDC staff, comprising 60 Graduate Trainees and 74 Technicians who had successfully concluded the training, were graduated at the ceremony.

The managing director and chief executive officer of the Disco advised customers to avoid going through third parties to pay electricity bills or transact any other business with the company, stressing that BEDC was duty-bound to discharge its obligation to customers who pay their bills regularly.

On the issue of estimated billing, Osibodu assured customer that the company would ensure that the customer enumeration programme was conducted strictly to enable those without meters benefit from the ongoing Meter Asset Provider (MAP) programme of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

While urging customers in Ondo, Delta, Edo and Ekiti States, the BEDC franchise area, to brace up for the meter roll-out programme, she said the metering programme in Asaba would take off within the month, even as she reiterated that the regulatory authorities have approved the commencement of a new tariff regime from next year.

She urged those with issues and complaints to take advantage of the complaints mechanism put in place by the management to address all manner of customers' complaints.

Earlier in an address at the trainee graduation ceremony, the Chairman, Board of Directors of BEDC, Mr. Victor Osibodu, noted that the objective of the specialised training programme was not only to add value to the company's service delivery but aimed at addressing unemployment in the country as well.

The chairman stressed that the recruitment of additional workforce coupled with specialised staff training remains critical to improvement in the company's service delivery to consumers across its service area.

According to Mr. Osibodu, the twin training schemes “were conceived after the power sector privatisation in 2013 to enable BEDC respond to the immediate talent needs of the sector, and also allow BEDC to contribute to the reduction of unemployment in Nigeria. The target is 1,500 recruitments under this scheme (and) within the four years of its existence, over 600 persons have been recruited.”

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