Our husbands don’t touch us at night, Rivers women protest blackout

Some women in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, stormed the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PEHD), in protest of prolonged power outage in the state capital.

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.

They complained that their husbands rarely have time with them at night due to the intense heat waves brought about by the unsteady power supply.

The protesters carried placards and 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 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 women who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said she cannot preserve cooked foods for weeks, and that business has been grounded due to poor power supply by the Port Harcourt distribution firm.

READ ALSO: Nigerians thrown into darkness as national grid collapses again, TCN, NERC keep mum

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: “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.”

“This protest is for PHED to give us light. We are paying bills but not seeing the light. Our pot of soup getting bad, and even having sex with our husbands is a problem because of heat.

“Last night, my husband wanted to have fun with me but the heat was too much, and I could not. We could not do anything. So PHED should give us light or else we will not pay the bill for this month,” another protest identified as Nene said.

However, the Public Relations Officer with the PEHD, Livingstone Koko, said the current power situation was beyond the control of the company.

He labelled the situation a value chain issue.

Koko stated: “It is a value chain constraint. It is beyond our control. However, we also share their sentiments and try to let them know that we are working with other players in the industry to ensure that supply is being restored.

“It is nothing short of what is being experienced around the country. So we are aware of the challenge and we apologise and ask them to bear with us.”

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