A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ebonyi state has threatened to institute legal action against the Eastland Electricity Distribution Limited (EEDL) over alleged overbilling, arbitrary disconnections and other practices it described as exploitative of electricity consumers.
The coalition said it had exhausted petitions and mediation efforts without getting satisfactory responses from the electricity distribution company, leaving litigation as the only available option to seek justice for affected consumers.
Speaking at a press conference in Abakaliki over the weekend, the coalition’s leader and Chairman of the Human Rights Volunteer Corps (HRVC), Ebonyi chapter, Prof. Joseph Agbo, alleged that consumers in the state had for years been subjected to estimated billing, unlawful loading of outstanding debts into prepaid meters, refusal to bill postpaid customers based on actual meter readings, and disconnections carried out without due notice.
He said the coalition, which also comprises the Human Rights Action Group, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Good Living Initiative (GLI), and Victims of EEDC Overbilling, Ebonyi State (VEOBES), resolved to approach the court after several complaints to the company and relevant regulatory authorities yielded no meaningful outcome.
