There was disquiet in Zaria yesterday as the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) disconnected light in most parts of the ancient city over alleged non-payment of bills.

The chairman of Zaria Local Government, Aliyu Idris Ibrahim, had advised the company against disconnecting the city for security reasons.

His media aide, Abubakar Rilwan, said: “When KEDCO visited the council chairman, Engineer Aliyu Idris Ibrahim in his office, the chairman told them that they shouldn’t disconnect the transformers for security reason, but they went ahead. We see this as a calculated attempt to mar the present administration at both state and national levels. The council would not tolerate this action of KEDCO, because criminals may take advantage of the darkness to commit crime,”

Residents described condemned the company’s decision.

Alhaji Aliyu Garba, a resident, said: “There are people that have pre-paid metres, which means they pay before enjoying service. Why someone would decide to punish these kinds of people because of defaulters. As a company, they ought to employ means of punishing defaulters, not the entire city. I think the government should intervene before the problem gets out of hand.”

When contacted, Head, Corporate Communications of the company, Mr Abdulaziz Abdullahi, said the disconnection had nothing to do with politics.

Abdullahi, who said the company was on massive disconnections, said those affected were customers who had not paid their bills in the last six months.

He said apart from having earlier written to them to ask them to pay their bills, the company had also invited them for a meeting which, he noted, they did not attend.

He said the company was asking them to pay only the current bills first.

•Sourced from a Daily Trust report