The
traders said a truck had hit a pole on Ikwerre Street on Tuesday.
The
Chairman of Rumuwoji Community Market, Nze Peter Ezeugo, told Southern City
News on Tuesday that his visit to PHED office on Ikwerre Road had not yielded
any positive result as officials of the company had refused to remove the
“dangerous” high tension poles.
He
alleged that one of the officials had insisted that money be contributed by
residents and traders within the area towards the removal of the pole.
Ezeugo
added that the PHED official gave them (traders) another option of waiting for
the outcome of the report they were writing on the incident before anything
could be done.
“We
went to PHED when the incident happened last Tuesday. It is over a week now,
but nothing has been done to remove the high tension poles from where they are
currently.
“The
first time we visited PHED, they came and disconnected the cables fitted to the
high tension poles. But as you can see, some parts of the two poles are
delicately resting on a roof of a trader’s shop and if nothing is done
urgently, the poles can finally fall to the ground and may hit somebody.
“In
fact, I went to them for more than three or four occasions and they told us
that we should have held the person that caused the installations to fall. But
we told them (PHED) that it happened around 4am when we had all left the
market.
“A
very big truck hit one of the poles from Ikwerre Street there and it affected
the high tension too. We are currently living in fear now because of this very
one that fell on the roof.
“One
of them said that if we wanted them to remove the high tension poles, we should
bring money. He also gave an option for us to wait until they send their report
on the incident.
“I
told them that the high tension poles can fall to the ground at any given time
and can kill somebody, but they did not listen to me. My people are saying that
it is their (PHED) work and they need to ensure that our lives are safe by
removing the poles and not to ask that we pay money for them to do their work,”
Ezeugo added.
A
trader, who deals in curtains, called on the state government to prevail in
PHED to remove the high tension poles to save their lives.
A
resident of the area, who identified herself as Mrs. Evelyn Yawo, said, “For
two weeks now, we have not got light in my compound, we use up to three metres;
we are up to four or five using one particular metre. But PHED is billing us
that are using one metre over N12,000 for a month.
When
contacted, the Public Relations Officer of PHED, Mr. Jonah Ibomah, said though
issue of removing poles fell under the purview of the transmission company, he
would put a call across to them to ensure they (high tension poles) were
removed.
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