Our Husbands Don’t Touch us At Night Due To Heat – Rivers Women Protest Blackout

A mild drama unfolded in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, on Tuesday as a group of women staged a protest at the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) over prolonged power outages.

Hailing from the Mile 2 and Mile 3 areas of Diobu, Port Harcourt, these women took to the streets to voice their frustration, citing the unbearable heat caused by erratic power supply that deprives them of quality time with their husbands at night.

Carrying placards, the demonstrators marched through prominent streets in Diobu, including Wokoma, Dim, Wokoma Lane, Obaziolu, Dim Lane, Egbuagu, Azikiwe, and Ojoto Streets, before converging at the PHED office to express their discontent.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, “We lack romance with our husbands’, ‘Our husbands no longer touch us at night’, No light no payment’, ‘The heat is too much,’ ‘PHED help us to sleep well with our husbands’, among others.

One of the women from Rivers, preferring anonymity, revealed the challenges they face in preserving cooked foods for extended periods. She highlighted the debilitating impact of inconsistent power supply from the Port Harcourt distribution firm, which has severely disrupted their business operations.

Specifically, she identified Dim, Wokama, Azikiwe, and Ojoto streets as the areas most affected. The women expressed frustration at the situation, emphasizing that they diligently pay their electricity bills each month but receive inadequate power in return.

She firmly stated that they refuse to pay for a service that leaves them in darkness.

The women protesting vowed to regroup and stage another peaceful demonstration if the situation failed to ameliorate.

She stated, “This lack of light (electricity) is making our soup sour. Even when our husbands want to make love to us, the heat will not allow it. We can’t even charge our phones and preserve our food. We are worried.”

Another protester who gave her name as Nene, said “This protest is for PHED to give us light. We are paying bills but not seeing the light. Our pot of soup getting bad, and even having sex with our husbands is a problem because of heat.

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“Last night, my husband wanted to have fun with me but the heat was too much, and I could not. We could not do anything. So PHED should give us light or else we will not pay the bill for this month.”

When reached for comment, Livingstone Koko, the Public Relations Officer for PEHD, stated that the prevailing power situation is outside the company’s control, attributing it to a matter of value change.

Koko stated, “It is a value chain constraint. It is beyond our control. However, we also share their sentiments and try to let them know that we are working with other players in the industry to ensure that supply is being restored.

“It is nothing short of what is being experienced around the country. So we are aware of the challenge and we apologise and ask them to bear with us.”