RE-CUSTOMER PETITIONS BEDC OVER STOLEN “PREPAID METER” IN ONDO STATE.
The attention of BEDC Electricity Plc was drawn to a publication titled “Customer Petitions BEDC Over Stolen Prepaid Meter in Ondo State” which appeared on SunshineTruth online blog on 23rd June, 2022.
Upon receipt of the viral report, an investigation was carried out to confirm the veracity of the claims made in the publication owing to some obvious gaps. BEDC reached out to the petitioner, Mrs. Iyabode Jenyo, and invited her to our Akure office on the 27th June to have a better understanding of the case.
From Mrs. Iyabode Jenyo submission she purchased her meter February 2015 and the same meter was stolen in December 2018. In line with the company procedure, she provided evidence of ownership, a police report, and an affidavit to enable BEDC block the meter from further vending of electricity token.
Subsequently, a direct bill was generated for the building for bill payment since the property was still connected to the grid. In addition, from our records, the last time a recharge was made on the stolen meter was on 17th December, 2018, shortly before it was reported stolen and Mrs. Iyabode Jenyo confirmed this was correct.
A further review of documents tendered by the petitioner were SMS alerts she assumed was from the stolen meter, a closer look at the alerts revealed they were actually for one of her property’s under IBEDC franchise (Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company) and not for BEDC!
This buttressed the fact that her stolen meter has never been used within BEDC network since the theft. We thank Mrs. Iyabode Jenyo for her understanding and for accepting the invitation to come to our office despite the inconvenience it caused her.
While we continue to work on the other issues raised by the petitioner, we appeal to our media partners to always reach out to us for a fair and balanced reportage whenever they could be working on issues relating to our operations.
Signed
Management
29/06/2022
