There was a mild drama 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.
One of the Rivers women who did not want her name mentioned said they also find it difficult to preserve cooked foods for weeks, pointing out that their business has been grounded due to poor power supply by the Port Harcourt distribution firm.
She listed the areas mostly affected as Dim, Wokama, Azikiwe, and Ojoto streets, even as they expressed dismay that they pay light bills monthly without a corresponding power supply.
She said they could not be paying for darkness.
The protesting women promised to re-mobilise and come for another round of peaceful protest if the condition did not improve.
She stated, “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.”
