Looking at Mr Innocent Okparah as smiles light up his handsome fair complexioned face, it became very hard to imagine him just some months ago he was battling to stay alive in the hospital.
But that was exactly what happened to him. For almost two weeks, Okparah danced between earth and the great beyond.
But he is now full of life.
Okparah pulled up a chair, sat down and looked straight into the eyes of the journalist, his smile slipped as recollections flashed through his mind.
Settling further into his chair, he gathered his thoughts to recount his bloody encounter with military me and Americans, Okparah said: “I was beaten with guns, boots and punches. It was just too much for me. I couldn’t fight back. They overpowered me.”
Okparah may forget many unpleasant events in his life, but he will never forget the day armed soldiers allegedly ‘working’ for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) gave him the beating of his life.
The beating was compounded after Okparah attempted to use his smart phone to take snapshots of the soldiers and BEDC officials. For his temerity, he had to spend weeks in the hospital fighting to live.
Aside from Okparah, other victims also claimed to have experienced the same encounter with soldiers, white men, while BEDC officials were trying to disconnect power supply to their homes.
This may sound irrational, but all the quarrelling, fighting and beatings have been discovered to be over struggle for possession and ownership of electrical wires, ladders, power disconnections and estimated billings.
Consumers wanted the electrical wires handed over to them after being disconnected, insisting they bought them, but BEDC refused to release the items.
For many Nigerians, it is quite abnormal to see DISCO officials, armed soldiers and white men, coming to disconnect power supply, but residents of Benin, Edo State, alleged that it was an everyday occurrence, which they had now got used to.
Our correspondent gathered that many energy consumers had taken to running immediately they sighted soldiers, white men and BEDC officials in their communities. Many are also petrified of going to media, fearful that the soldiers might pay them an unscheduled visit.
This was even it was further gathered that human rights activist had ferociously been fighting against such practices, so much that the trend was beginning to reduce.
Recalling the encounter as if it happened yesterday, Okparah said: “We have been hearing about it, but that day was my first experience. The BEDC officials came with military men and white men! After disconnecting the light, we told them that we wouldn’t allow them to go with our wires. The white men instructed the military men, who were armed with guns and all sorts of ammunition, to fight me.
“Four Nigerian soldiers fought me. They tore my clothes, flogged me, used their boots on me and hit me with their guns. I resisted to an extent, but I finally succumbed because I couldn’t contend with the power of four military men, who were fully armed.”
Okparah said when the intimidating men stormed their community, they explained to the residents that, “we had not been paying our bills, so they were going to pull down our wires. I asked them what bill? I reminded them that we had been paying our bills until BEDC started something fishy, which we didn’t understand. BEDC’s new arrangement opened a new chapter, which was very difficult for us to translate.”
Okparah added that the new chapter opened by BEDC was difficult and consumers couldn’t cope. He explained that BEDC was urged to return to the original operating system, but it allegedly refused.
He said: “BEDC refused. They became mad and we joined in their madness, and then they brought soldiers. They disconnected our house, we told them no problem, but that the ladder and wires belonged to us. We bought them with our hard earned money. The only thing that belonged to them was the energy. We told them to move their connections from the energy and let us have our property. That was all. They commanded their soldiers to start fighting me in particular because I asked questions. In fact, it was some of our agitations that stopped BEDC from some of the illegal activities they had been doing. BEDC has the right to remove us from feeding from their energy, but they cannot take what rightfully belongs to us.”
Okparah disclosed that the fight with BEDC started in 2017 after a court case, where DISCO was instructed to stop disconnecting consumers until further notice. He said that BEDC failed to recognise and respect the judiciary, so consumers also decided not to obey and respect the company.
“BEDC was doing illegal billing. The court judgement was given in Lagos and we wanted them to adhere to it, but they refused. We decided to protest their billing system. We decided to pay what we feel we consumed. Most of us know our billings and nothing was removed or added in our electrical consumptions, so how come the billings increased?
“Assuming your bill before was N5,000 or N10,000 and you’re suddenly given a bill of between N30,000 and N45,000, what will you do? That was our case. Part of the court order was that if a bill is being contested, the consumer should be allowed to pay what he or she was being billed before.
“For example, if you used to be given N10,000 and you are suddenly slammed with N45,000, a customer can still go ahead to pay his usual N10,000, while protesting the overestimated or crazy billing just given. That was what we did then.
“The BEDC bills were even more than some consumers’ house rents. There is a situation where someone is occupying a single room apartment and his bill was N10,000. A house was paying N10,000 and suddenly for no reason, the bill was increased to N45,000. Was that not crazy?” Okparah asked.
The man also disclosed that some apartments, whose bill was just N1,500 was increased to N5,000, while the rent for the apartment was just N3,000.
He added: “In fact, it became a rope tie; we couldn’t work with that, so what we did was to pay the billing system as it were before the crazy system started. The court asked them to return to the original billing system, but BEDC refused. While we were busy paying our normal original billing system, they were busy compiling their new system of billings for us, which we had earlier refused to pay. On that particular day they came, we presented our documents, but they wouldn’t listen. They came with soldiers.”
After Okparah walked out of hospital, he embarked on the quest for justice, supported by the Edo Civil Society Organisation (EDOCSO). He reported to the Nigerian Army, the Police and Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). He demanded that the white men, who allegedly instructed the soldiers to beat him, should be investigated for human rights violations and be repatriated.
“Of course, they cannot come to Nigeria, our own country and begin to assault us. These white men were with BEDC. I don’t know why BEDC should be moving around with white men and soldiers. In fact, it was the white men that commanded the soldiers to attack me. The soldiers preferred to obey the white men, inflicting injuries on their own brother. It was so stupid,” he fumed.
Okparah disclosed that he filed a complaint against the soldiers at 4th Brigade of the Nigerian Army and also petitioned the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
He recalled: “I was called by the Army commander. We talked. The Army denied that the soldiers were from them. The Nigerian Immigration Service called and tried for an amicable resolution.”
It was learnt that the white men were working closely with some Disco officials in three different states. Soldiers are attached to the white men. It was also learnt that the white men are in Nigeria under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under the Power Africa Project.
“We heard that another company brought them to Nigeria and the arrangement was that each white man should be escorted by two soldiers. So, they are now using those military men to molest people. We are law-abiding citizens because we obey the court order,” Okparah said.
He added that the NIS, while attempting to reach amicable resolution, asked Okparah and the EDOCSO to immediately report if they noticed such behaviour among the soldiers, BEDC and white men.
“Naturally, Immigration warned the white men to stop such activities; we want to believe they have checked their activities because it’s not as rampant as it used to be.
“When Army called me on the matter, they asked me if I wanted the soldiers to be sacked, I responded that they were my brothers. There was no way I could watched them being laid off just because they became stupid by obeying total strangers. The truth is that I expected the soldiers to realise that as Nigerians, we are all brothers.
“When they were being ordered to beat me up, they should have remembered that I was their brother; they should have handled me with love. I told the military, all I wanted was for them to be punished, not dismissal,” said Okparah.
Shaking his head in bafflement, the man said that despite everything, BEDC’s crazy billings had not stopped.
It was learnt that because of BEDC rights violations, human rights activists in the state teamed up and embarked on a series of protests, often staged at the front of BEDC’s head office in Benin, demanding that the firm and its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Funke Osibudu, should go.
Okparah said: “If you go to their head office, you will see thousands of prepaid meters littered everywhere. We have done our investigations and we found out that in BEDC office, there are thousands of available meters, which they have refused to give to their consumers. The meters are just there and the only practical thing would have been to share them, but they didn’t.”
Okparah, who claimed BEDC was profiting from estimated billing system, tried to sell his theory.
He said: “Look at it this way; if you have a prepaid meter in a house, you cannot use more than N5,000, but if you are on estimated billing, you might be charged N43,000 for that same house. Who pays for the excess billing? The customers!
“It is still the same buying and selling structure, which was not what we bargained for in the light reformed structure that brought them into power. People can’t afford power supply and there’s also no power supply.”
The Coordinator General of EDOSCO, Leftist Omobude Agho, also had an encounter with the soldiers, white men and BEDC officials.
Agho said on that fateful day, he received a call that power to his apartment was about to be disconnected, he rushed over to his community, to find out what was going on.
He was shocked to see armed soldiers, white men and BEDC officials. There was noticeable bedlam in the community as residents were scampering in different directions.
Agho said he had initially thought he could speak and reasoned with the delegation, but the situation soon snowballed when he was barked at and ordered to sit on the ground.
Outrage rendered him speechless. The incident occurred on Medical Road, Benin, where Agho lives.
He said: “I cannot remember specifically the exact date they came, but it was one of those days we used to have meetings with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) officials. I was in the middle of the meeting when I received a call that some white men and soldiers were at my house and wanted to disconnect my light. They said that I owed electricity bill.
“On getting there, we met about two private jeeps, two normal Hilux van and another van that belonged to BEDC, filled with electrical wires. I saw the two white men standing at my gate, with about seven soldiers. The soldiers were harassing and beating some people. People were running away fearful of their safety. Everyone knew what soldiers can do.
“When I got there, I was annoyed. I went to meet the sales manager of BEDC, later identified as Mr. Ayiayi, who was also there. I asked what led to white men, who are foreigners, coming to our land with soldiers to harass us. He said that he was sorry; that the white men were from BEDC headquarters. He said that he had no choice than to lead them since he was in charge of the jurisdiction.
“I was still speaking with him when one of the soldiers pointed his rifle at me and asked the sales manager if I was the one. The next thing I knew was that the soldier placed the nozzle of his rifle at my chest and ordered me to sit on the ground. I didn’t know if the gun was corked or not.
“I got angry; I asked him why should I, a complete citizen of Nigeria sit on the ground at the directives of some foreigners. I was so angry that I started shouting.
“As I was shouting, ordinarily, on a normal day, people would have gathered. But because people had fled out of fear, no crowd gathered. I was left alone with them. We argued and the white men moved closer and I noticed that they had an American accent. As I was shouting and talking, one of the white men shouted at me to shut up. I turned to him and asked why he was ordering a citizen of Nigeria, in his own country to shut up.
“I asked him if such an affront could ever happen in his own country. One of the white men ordered the soldier that pointed his gun at me to calm down. He said I should be left alone, but he used insulting words on me. There were some men, who wore suits and had Bluetooth in their ears. I strongly suspected that they might be operatives from the Department of State Services (DSS).”
According to Agho, when he started writing petitions against the military men and reached DSS office, the DSS boss said his men were not attached to BEDC.
He added: “I don’t know who those men were, but they were with the white men and had guns strapped to their hips. They followed the white men around like special security men or something. They were three in number, dressed in suits and had Bluetooth stuck to their ears.
“One of the men in black came over and spoke Hausa Language to one of the soldiers. They didn’t know that I understood the language. They thought I was just a regular Edo State indigene guy. He asked the soldier why they didn’t beat me up, that I was the person that had refused to pay my bills and that I was also among those protesting fixed charges and estimated billings. He asked them to deal with me. I felt they wanted to do something terrible to me. I allowed them to finish talking, then I turned to him and spoke in Hausa. I saw the shock on their faces. In fact, at that point, one of the white men knew that I had heard all their plans. He called others and they drove off. This drama lasted for over an hour just because I refused to sit on the ground.
“When I was ordered to sit on the ground, I told myself that would never happen. I knew soldiers and other security agents had no business being in the streets of Nigerians disconnecting power supply.”
Agho said that although he had been hearing of such incidents, his own experience was an eye-opener. Armed with this experience and knowledge, he petitioned the Nigeria Police Force, DSS and Nigerian Immigration Service, calling for thorough investigations of the activities of the white men.
Recollecting one of such cases, Agho said: “There was a case against a nursing mother. She had her baby strapped to her back. When the white men and soldiers came, they disconnected her light and wanted to leave with her electrical wire. She started struggling to collect it. Most consumers bought those wires themselves. She told them that it was her property that she bought it. One of the soldiers pushed her; she and her baby fell. There are several cases like that.
“Initially, we found such stories hard to believe until it came to our doorsteps. Nobody had been brave enough to take snapshots of them in operation. Mr. Innocent Okparah who tried it was almost killed. The soldiers and BEDC workers do not want to be captured on video or picture. Okparah spent two weeks in the hospital.”
Agho said that customers’ challenge with BEDC was not getting better, with everyone angry and the atmosphere tensed. According to him, Edo State indigenes no longer want the contract of BEDC to be renewed.
He said: “We need to have a service provider which can listen to the people and be ready to provide services; not this present tyrannical type. We still see the soldiers around Edo State, but their harassment has reduced. We learnt that the white men have moved to Delta State. We got the information from human rights activists over there. They have moved their violations to that axis.”
Asked if BEDC controls Delta State, Agho responded: “Yes! BEDC controls Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states. Funke, the MD of BEDC controls four states. So, right now in Delta State, we heard how the white men are using soldiers to molest people. Someone reported the incident recently to our platform, complaining of assault and harassment. We are aware that a major and captain are with these white men, but the military hierarchy keeps denying knowing anything about soldiers beating up consumers. They said the soldiers were to protect the white men.
“We have reported them to the Edo State House of Assembly, and we know that the military have been summoned twice. It is also said that the soldiers are used to protect Discos’ facilities.”
Agho, who said that the only solution to such human rights abuses was for the revocation of BEDC’s licence, added that opportunity should be given to someone, serious about providing power supply to take over.
He added: “At that time, the MOU will not be signed on behalf of the people; rather the people will sign it by themselves. There will be a stakeholders’ meeting to that effect; whatever is coming, we should be aware, we must have an input, we are in a democracy. Chapter two of the 1999 Constitution says so clearly. Nobody should sit in Abuja or one exotic office or somewhere else and decides for the people. Nobody is going to pay our bills; we are paying our bills.”
Mr. Kelly Osunbor Omokaro also has a story to tell, but not as shocking as that of Okparah and Agho.
Omokaro, with pride ringing in his voice, said that he was able to avoid being pounced upon because he deployed wisdom and diplomacy.
He explained that he was able to achieve peace, because of his vast experience in working with security agents and understanding their minds and psychological dispositions. The incident occurred at Oko GRA, Airport Road, where Omokaro lives.
He said: “The time was about 11a.m. I was at home when I heard my security guard knocking at my door. I opened my door and saw BEDC officials standing at the gate; I went out to meet them. I noticed that two soldiers and some policemen were with them. The policemen were not in uniform. They said we bypassed our meters. Actually, the bypass was deliberate. BEDC refused to obey a court injunction; we too decided not to obey BEDC. The deliberate bypassing of our meters was a protest. We had also decided that we would be going to court for as long as it takes until BEDC starts obeying court order and do the needful.
“On that day, they asked why my meter was bypassed. A BEDC lady led the delegation, but a soldier was the person asking questions. They were 13 people, including soldiers, policemen and BEDC officials.
“I explained about the court injunction on ground. I presented them with a copy of the court’s judgement and where BEDC was asked to revise the N13.50k, which they added on the tariff. Before increasing, BEDC was supposed to call a meeting where we discuss and negotiate the price increment. Thus they failed to do so and refused also to obey court order.
“If not that I was well-grounded with the rules and regulations of the military, I would probably have started shaking and begging at the sight of the military and other uniform men. We have cases like that; the truth is that it’s not easy to sight soldiers at the front of your gate and not panic. I told the soldiers that the Nigerian Army was one of the best in the world and well respected. I reminded them that millions was spent on training each of them. One of their duties is to protect our nation. I told them that based on their training, BEDC was too small to play a fast one on them.”
Omokaro said that he knew and had cordial relationship with some military commanders in the state. He said that when the soldiers noticed how he spoke, they were taken aback. They soon relaxed their hostile stance.
The soldiers decided to return to BEDC office, insisting that Omokaro made a lot of sense with his argument.
Omokaro said that the most annoying thing about BEDC was that it had increased tariff about three times without recourse to the law. According to Omokaro, the argument of Edo State people is that before such increase, BEDC should call a stakeholders’ meeting.
He said he went to BEDC headquarters to register his displeasure and renew argument, where some of the staff he meant on ground told him that some of them were even suffering more than the consumers because, “their salaries had been slashed with almost 70 per cent. They said that their welfare was now quite poor compared to the era of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).”
Omokaro said that he made efforts to report the soldiers and also to find out about their connection to BEDC. But the Army in the state only promised to look into the matter.
Omokaro alleged that even BEDC’s MD, Funke Osibudu, had military details attached to her. He said that Osibudu was the owner of BEDC and actually did buy it from the government.
“She is guarded night and day by soldiers. She stays at Protea Hotel in Benin. Go there right now; you’ll find soldiers everywhere. Even if you go to BEDC headquarters, you will see soldiers there. According to our law, the only person entitled to be guarded by soldiers is the Nigerian President. Even the Edo State governor is not guarded by soldiers. He is only guarded by police and DSS operatives. But to be guarding a private citizen, even down to the hotel she stays is against the law,” Omokaro fumed.
He added: “If you are spending more days in Benin and move around, you will hear a lot of stories. The major problem is that because soldiers are involved, victims shy away from speaking out. They are all afraid.”
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of EDOCSO, Comrade Osazee Edigin, said the fight against such rights violations by BEDC had been on for years.
Edigin noted that the BEDC officials
stormed the community in two trucks filled with soldiers. The
disagreement was over estimated billing.
No comments:
Post a Comment