A mild drama ensued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, on Tuesday as some women stormed the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company protesting the prolonged power outage.
The women from the Mile 2 and Mile 3 axis of Diobu, Port Harcourt barricaded the PHED office near the Isaac Boro Park in Port Harcourt, saying their husbands barely have time with them at night due to intense heat waves occasioned by epileptic power supply.
The placard-carrying protesters matched 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 register their displeasure.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards carried 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.
The protesting women promised to re-mobilise and come for another round of peaceful protest if the condition did not improve.
They say, “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.”
The women say the areas mostly affected are Dim, Wokama, Azikiwe, and Ojoto streets, even as they expressed dismay that they pay light bills monthly without a corresponding power supply.
The protest is coming days after the Minister of Power, BAYO ADELABU, held a meeting with electricity generation and distribution companies.
ADELABU said the meeting was held to proffer solutions to the lingering power problems in the country.
The country has been experiencing a low power supply since December 2023.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria as well as electricity distribution companies have, however, blamed the situation on gas shortages leading to low allocation from the national grid.