How Monitoring Team Rips Off Ikeja Electricity Company

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

The management of the largest Nigerian power distribution company, Ikeja Electricity may have thought that the idea of creating monitoring teams to recover debt owed by customers would further enhance their finance. But the contrary is true on the streets of Lagos.

The well thought out idea by the management may have backfired as the team has turned the whole scheme into an opportunity to enrich their private pockets to the detriment of the company.

P.M.EXPRESS investigation showed that the members of the team engaged former staff of the disbanded Power Holding Company of Nigeria with their ladder to move from to house,  obtaining money from consumers which they share amongst themselves.

They also move from one community to another pretending as if they were on special duties assisting the company to recover debt. But in the real sense, they were assisting themselves by making brisk businesses and getting all the money which they called ‘settlement’ without paying anything into the company’s account.

P.M.EXPRESS findings showed some of the areas where these illegal activities were going on unimpeded. They included  Ijegun, Isheri Oshun, Idimu,  Ijegun, Ikotun, Ejigbo and several other areas were they were yet to fix prepaid meters and ensure compliance.

According to some residents, the team had been collecting the money through intimidation and harassment and were making millions of Naira because hundreds of houses were involved, where they can obtain and smile to their homes every evening since they started the exercise.

One of the residents said, “the members of the team were not there to recover any money to the company but to make money for themselves.”

He said that the team had arranged the exercise in such a way that every consumers must pay them certain amount of money because almost all the house in the areas were owing bills.

Another resident simply identified as Tayo analysed how they carried out the operations. He explained that if a house was owing N100,000 and above due to accumulated bills, the team will threaten to disconnect such houses but at the end force them to pay N10,000 in order to escape being disconnected.

If such resident did not pay them, they will disconnect the wires and carry them along with them to a location until such residents pay them. However, if the bill is between N20,000 and N50,000, they will obtain N5,000 for each house. But where houses were owing very little, they will cut the wires and ask them to pay reconnection fee of N2,000 before they will reconnect them back.

Our correspondent tried to find out why it was so. Some of the team members explained that they were not given incentives to do the work and they may be sacked at anytime because it was a private work so they have to make quick money as much as they can.

It was also learnt that the members do remit some money to their bosses who appointed them as members and they will not entertain excuses after working for several weeks as part of the monitoring team and there was nothing to show for it.

When our correspondent contacted the PRO of Ikeja Electric, his known number was switched off. However, a staff of the company said that they all knew that such things do happen and wherever there was complaint and evidence, the management used to take action on such staff.

Some residents condemned their approach to work and said that they were gradually killing the company and the management appeared not bothered about their conduct.