PH Mundial – Port Harcourt Online Newspaper News across the Niger Delta
Related Articles
A Port Harcourt–based small business owner has accused the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) of wrongful disconnection, alleging that the action led to the spoilage of food items worth N800,000.
Mrs. Abigail Nwachukwu Chukwuemeka, CEO of Larachuks Foods, said her electricity supply at No. 20B Timothy Lane, Rumuola, was disconnected while she was out of town for a burial, despite being up to date with her payments.
“I am a regular customer and I pay my electricity bills within the approved time, before the next bill is issued,” she said. “I do not owe PHED, yet our power supply was disconnected when we travelled.”
According to her, the disconnection was carried out by a team believed to be from PHED’s Task Force unit.
“At the time we travelled, my deep freezer was fully stocked with processed food items,” she explained. “I am a food processor and producer of small chops, and the items in that freezer were worth about N800,000.”
She said the products were prepared to relaunch her business in 2026 after spending heavily on burial expenses.
“The action of your team has caused me a very huge loss,” she lamented. “This is a big blow to an SME like me. That stock was meant to help me bounce back financially.”
Mrs. Chukwuemeka stated that the prolonged outage led to the complete spoilage of the frozen items.
“I returned to meet everything destroyed. For a small business owner, that kind of loss is devastating,” she said.
She has called on PHED’s management to urgently investigate the incident and provide remedies.
“I kindly request confirmation of my payment status at the time of disconnection and immediate remedial actions to alleviate my loss,” she stated. “As a law-abiding customer, I believe I deserve fair treatment.”
Efforts to obtain an official response from PHED were unsuccessful as of press time.
The incident adds to growing concerns among small and medium-scale enterprises in Rivers State about the impact of electricity disruptions on business sustainability, particularly in the food processing and cold storage sectors where uninterrupted power supply is critical.
