Imo Electricity Crisis: Okorie Seeks Govt’s Protection, Establishment Of Anti-Electricity Crime Units Nationwide

A community rights advocate in Imo State, Chief Princewill Okorie, has asked Governor Hope Uzodimma to guarantee his safety as he works to ensure enforcement of the Imo State Electricity Law.

He also urged the Inspector General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, to establish anti-electricity crime units across the country.

Okorie, Executive Director of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and its affiliate, the Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, spoke at a press briefing in Abuja at the weekend.

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He alleged that staff of Transpower Electricity Distribution Limited, a subsidiary of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) that serves Imo State, have threatened his life.
According to him, he has endured a month of traumatising attacks.

Okorie said the first incident happened at about 6.30am on September 28, 2026, at his country home in Ohohia, Nbieri, in Mbaitoli Local Government Area.

He claimed two Transpower staff arrived with seven armed men, four of whom entered his sitting room and insisted on taking him away.

He said that when he asked for a warrant of arrest or a police invitation, none was produced. The men reportedly said they were from the Zone 9 police headquarters in Umuahia, but did not confirm whether they had reported to the Imo State Police Command.

Okorie said the timing was striking, as he was due that same day at noon to appear before a police committee investigating a petition he submitted to Governor Uzodimma on June 29 over alleged electricity crimes by the company’s staff.

He said the governor minuted the petition and directed the Commissioner of Police to investigate. The committee is led by ACP Linus, commander of the X Squad.

He said the abduction failed because community youths intervened after he refused to go with the men without proof of legal authority.

The second incident, he said, took place on October 2 at the premises of the Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ISERC), where the commissioner in charge of consumer affairs had convened a meeting with forum members.

Okorie alleged that two persons brought by the company stormed the hall and moved to attack him, and were stopped only by those who came with him.

He said they later barricaded the gate and threatened to pick him up as he left, but his supporters again resisted them.

Okorie said the company stayed away from the September 28 police meeting, claiming it had lost confidence in the Imo State Police Command, and took its complaint to Zone 9. He said he also petitioned Zone 9 and the IGP.

He said ISERC wrote to the police confirming that his allegations were backed by regulatory provisions, and rejected an appeal filed by the company.

According to him, the regulator would not hear the appeal until the company complied with a March 5, 2025 ruling on the collective disconnection of electricity in Ohohia town, Mbaitoli Local Government Area.

He alleged that the company cut off the entire town five days after that order, leaving residents in darkness from March 2025 to January 2026.

Okorie also recounted an incident on August 24, when three Transpower staff were allegedly caught in Ohohia community disconnecting consumers without notice.

He said they collected money through POS terminals without bills, receipts or meters, demanding N20,000 from each consumer before reducing it to N14,600 after residents protested.

He said the divisional police officer in Ngeri asked that the staff be brought to the station, and that they agreed only after the residents protested.

On the way, he alleged, the staff turned violent and attacked a young man from the community, who injured one of them in self-defence.

The matter was recorded at the division as conduct capable of causing a breach of public peace, and was transferred to the state command the same day.

Okorie said that two days later the Special Intelligence Division invited him to write a statement over an assault allegation.

He protested to the Commissioner of Police, who withdrew the case from the division and merged it with the governor’s directive, handing both to a five-member panel headed by ACP Linus Nwiu.

Okorie said he has learnt that the company has filed a suit at a High Court in Imo State, dated October 8, in which he is the main respondent.

The other defendants, he said, include the Imo State Commissioner of Police, the Inspector General of Police, ISERC and its commissioner in charge of consumer affairs.

He said he had not been served as of October 16 and suspects an attempt to ambush him or proceed with the case behind his back.

Okorie urged Governor Uzodimma to ensure his safety, saying his work supports enforcement of the state electricity law and the welfare and security of the people as provided in the Constitution.

He said ISERC records show about 78 cases of consumer rights abuses in Imo State as of March 2026 in which the regulator ruled but the company has yet to comply.

He added that company officials admitted at the police station that they had applied for a licence but were not yet fully licensed.

He asked the IGP to immediately set up anti-electricity crime units at the force headquarters and in all states, especially those with electricity markets, comparing them to existing anti-kidnapping units.

He said the Imo case could serve as a study for other states, citing communities in Edo said to owe BEDC N1.056 billion and communities in Akwa Ibom said to owe about N80 million for being without power from 2019 to 2025.

Okorie warned that if regulators cannot enforce their orders and the police are not empowered to investigate and prosecute electricity crimes, state electricity markets could become havens for extortion and exploitation.

“I deserve safety. I deserve security. This work must be done. I’m not giving up on this job,” he said.

When contacted by phone, the Chairman of ISERC, Engr. Bede Opara, said the commission’s role is regulatory and that it examines issues dispassionately.

He said it condemns wrongdoing by providers and communities alike and expects its orders to be obeyed, adding that it does not take sides in family or community disputes.

Opara said the commission had written several letters on the matter, all of which are with Okorie, and that its positions on the attack on him and his dealings with the police were put in writing.

He said the commission does not go into matters outside its jurisdiction.

Also reached on phone, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Audu Garba Bosso, confirmed that a petition had been received and said he had set up a committee to investigate it.

He said the committee was still at work and that he was awaiting its report.