Tailors in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, took to the streets to express their displeasure about the high cost of electricity and alleged extortion by Aba Power Limited (APL), a subsidiary of Geometric Power.
According to them, the high cost estimated billing issued to them by the electricity company was too high and it would run them out of business despite the elliptic power supply.
The tailors who staged a protest on Wednesday complained that the activities of the electricity company were affecting their business, and they were not happy about it. 
Speaking to pressmen during the protest, one of the tailors, Ikenna Agu, said the electricity company used to harass and intimidate them with police operatives and soldiers to pay bills.
He narrated that the electricity company came with soldiers last Saturday to their business premises, disconnected their lines without prior warning and also beat up some of them, including some customers.
Agu added ‘‘What is painful about the issue is that APL gives us bills that are more than the number of shops we have in a block.
“How can I be paying N18,000 monthly in my small shop, when I don’t have up to 24 hours light in a month?
“They bring 38 bills in our own building, which does not have 38 shops.” He appealed to the Abia State Government to urgently intervene and call the company to order.
Another tailor, Ugochukwu Iheme, “APL is making life miserable for them” while another, Ebere Okoro, said the problem was that the bill was not commensurate with the energy they supply.
However, Naija News learned that in a swift response, the Chief Commercial Officer of Aba Power Limited, Blessing Ogbe, debunked the allegations, saying that the tailors’ clusters were placed on the busiest electricity feeder.
According to Premium Times, Ogbe said the company ensured that the feeder serves them between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily, noting that they are not on estimated billings.
The electricity company said they always adhered to the National Electricity Regulatory Commission capping order and challenged the tailors to present their bills for the month’s capping to be cross-checked.
Ogbe claimed that the company was aware that usually about 30 tailors use one shop and pay for about just three persons.
Reacting to the controversy, the Commissioner for Trade, Commerce and Industry, Chimezie Okegwu, said he was not aware of the protest.
He said the state government would investigate the alleged extortion when the ministry had received a formal report.
“Any extortion is illegal as long as it is truly extortion, but another thing is for us to know if it is really extortion.
“It may be legitimate, but a legitimate thing could also be done wrongly. We have to check if it is extortion or a legitimate fee, the timing and how it was done,” he said.
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