A planned protest by the Agbarha-Otor community over years of power outage has been called off after key stakeholders in Ughelli North Local Government Area intervened.
The demonstration had been triggered by nearly ten years of blackout and the refusal of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to reconnect the community to the national grid, despite Agbarha-Otor’s significant contribution to the nation’s economy.
Meanwhile, youths from the community have sent a “Save Our Soul” message to Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, urging him to rescue them from the prolonged blackout.
In a letter signed by youth leaders Coach Rufus Ovotu and Engr. Emmanuel Emareyo Dickson, the Agbarha-Otor youth body thanked Governor Oborevwori for providing a step-down transformer to the community and appealed for further assistance to ensure full restoration of electricity.
“We express our deep appreciation to Your Excellency for the step-down transformer recently provided to our community. This gesture has brought great relief and reflects your steadfast commitment to the welfare of Delta State residents.
“We are grateful for your prompt response to our needs and your dedication to improving the lives of your people. The new transformer shows your administration’s focus on infrastructure development and citizen welfare.
“However, we humbly ask for your continued support in restoring electricity to Agbarha-Otor. The transformer is a major step forward, but more assistance is needed for full reconnection.
“We are confident that with your support, we can overcome the challenges slowing our development and improve the quality of life in our community.”
It was gathered that despite the governor’s provision of the transformer, BEDC has still not reconnected Agbarha-Otor to the national grid, allegedly due to accumulated electricity debt owed by the community.
Agbarha-Otor is an oil-producing community in Ughelli North and hosts the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) plant, which operates the largest manifold in West Africa.
