Benin City’s Ring Road, usually a bustling commercial hub, turned into a rallying point as hundreds of residents poured onto the streets to protest persistent power outages and what they described as exploitative billing by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC.

Chanting solidarity songs and waving placards with inscriptions such as “We say no to BEDC oppression,” “No light, no bill,” and “Edo people say no to bulk billing,” the demonstrators demanded an end to estimated billing, prolonged blackouts and the high cost of prepaid meters.

In a rare move for a sitting governor, Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo left his convoy to join the protesters at Ring Road, drawing cheers from the crowd. He walked among them briefly before mounting an improvised podium to address their grievances.

Speaking for the protesters, community advocate Ogbidi Emmanuel said residents across Edo had been “pushed to the wall” by what he called oppressive practices of the distribution company. He accused BEDC of charging for electricity not supplied and hiding behind a “so-called free meter scheme” that many consumers could not access.

“We pay for light, and they give us darkness,” Emmanuel said, demanding that BEDC publish a transparent list of beneficiaries of its free meter programme. He alleged that many households were still being asked to pay between N150,000 and N400,000 for meters despite official claims of free distribution.

Addressing the crowd, Okpebholo urged the protesters to remain peaceful while promising to convene urgent talks with sector stakeholders. He reminded them that BEDC is a privately owned company, but insisted that government could not ignore the outcry.

“We need to engage them to see how we can bring in more investors into the business of electricity distribution. Once that is done, we will all be more assured of stable power,” he said, adding that his administration would work to “break the monopoly” in the distribution space.

The governor announced a stakeholders’ meeting and asked the protesters to nominate five representatives to attend, assuring them that their voices would be heard in any negotiations.

Security personnel monitored the demonstration, which remained peaceful. After the governor’s address and the selection of representatives, the protesters gradually dispersed, vowing to return if their demands are not met.

As at the time of the protest, BEDC had yet to issue a formal response to the allegations raised by the residents.