A professor at Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Tunde Akanni, has raised alarm over alleged extortion by Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC).
He sent a formal complaint to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) about the matter.
The petition, titled “SOS on Massive Extortion of Customers by Ikeja Electric,” accused IKEDC of exploiting its UNISTAR pre-paid meters to extort money from customers, including himself and others living in Lagos State Government (LASG) quarters.
Prof. Akanni claimed that IKEDC intentionally deactivates the UNISTAR meters once the credit runs out. Customers, he said, are then unable to reload their meters despite recharging their accounts.
When they complain, IKEDC tells them their meters are faulty and need replacement, urging them to buy new ones for as much as ₦120,000.
According to Prof. Akanni, this practice has caused severe hardship for residents. “In the past, customers like me whose monthly consumption hardly exceeded N50,000 following the banding regime had been summarily billed as much as N270,000,” he explained.
He shared his personal experience of recharging his meter with ₦25,000, only to find it deactivated. He was forced to seek a replacement meter and faced delays because IKEDC’s online application portal was down. Meanwhile, he feared being issued inflated bills.
The professor described how other residents in LASG quarters also complained about being left in financial distress due to similar issues.
He called on the FCCPC to urgently address these practices, stating, “If they have the effrontery to subject LASG employees living in government quarters to this embarrassing situation, one can imagine what helpless private citizens are being subjected to by IKEDC.”
Prof. Akanni hopes the FCCPC will step in to protect customers from what he called IKEDC’s “unfair practices.”
