Heat won’t let our husbands touch us at night – Married women protest over blackout in Rivers
A group of women in Rivers state besieged the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, on Tuesday, to protest the prolonged blackout.
The aggrieved women, most of whom are married, trooped out from Mile 2 and Mile 3 axis of Diobu, and barricaded the PHED office near the Isaac Boro Park to demand an explanation for the power outage.
They held placards with inscriptions which disclosed that their husbands barely spend time with them at night due to intense heat waves.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, “We lack romance with our husbands’, ‘Our husbands no longer touch us at night’, No light no payment’, ‘The heat is too much,’ ‘PHED help us to sleep well with our husbands’.
One of the women who pleaded anonymity said they also find it difficult to preserve cooked foods for weeks, pointing out that their business has been grounded due to poor power supply.
She said; “This lack of light (electricity) is making our soup sour. Even when our husbands want to make love to us, the heat will not allow it. We can’t even charge our phones and preserve our food. We are worried.”
Another protester who gave her name as Nene, said; “This protest is for PHED to give us light. We are paying bills but not seeing the light. Our pot of soup getting bad, and even having s3x with our husbands is a problem because of heat.
“Last night, my husband wanted to have fun with me but the heat was too much, and I could not. We could not do anything. So PHED should give us light or else we will not pay the bill for this month.”
PHED Public Relations Officer, Livingstone Koko, said the current power situation was beyond the control of the company because it is a value chain issue.
Koko stated; “It is a value chain constraint. It is beyond our control. However, we also share their sentiments and try to let them know that we are working with other players in the industry to ensure that supply is being restored.
“It is nothing short of what is being experienced around the country. So we are aware of the challenge and we apologise and ask them to bear with us.”
The protesting women promised to re-mobilise and come for another round of peaceful protest if the condition did not improve.
