The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has alleged assault on its staffers in the Nkpor area of Anambra state by three men indebted to the company in electricity bills.
In a statement made available to Blueprint in Abuja Thursday, signed by the company’s Head of Communications, Mr Chukwuemeka Ezeh, EEDC said the EEDC team; made up of linesmen and marketers attached to its Umunya service centre, under Ogidi Ddstrict, were at Maryland Layout, Umuoji road, Nkpor, for cash drive/disconnection of indebted customers when they were attacked.
The statement reads in part: “Our staffers were in the premises, which is a two storey building, to engage with the customers before serving them the disconnection notice when two hefty men locked up the gate and descended on them: slapping, punching and smashing one of them against the gate when he tried to escape, thereby leaving him in a critical state at the hospital.
“The suspects were immediately arrested by the police and are currently detained at the Ogidi police station. We are optimistic that the appropriate punishment will be administered to these men; to serve as a deterrent to others. Assault on EEDC field officers in the course of carrying out our daily operations is one of the challenges faced by the company, and this is highly prevalent in Ogidi district.
“We have had situations where customers release their dogs on our staff, threaten them at gun point to either come down from the pole or to climb and reconnect them. Sometimes, these staff are pulled down from the ladder while they are still on the pole and attacked with harmful objects like knife. These are individuals who are bread winners to their families. If this is encouraged, it could happen to anyone tomorrow.”
