A Port Harcourt-based small business owner has accused the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) of wrongful disconnection, alleging that the action resulted in the spoilage of food items valued at N800,000.
Mrs. Abigail Nwachukwu Chukwuemeka, Chief Executive Officer of Larachuks Foods, said electricity supply to her business premises 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.
According to her, the disconnection was carried out by a team believed to be from PHED’s task force unit.
“I am a regular customer and I pay my electricity bills within the approved time, before the next bill is issued. I do not owe PHED, yet our power supply was disconnected when we travelled,” she said.
Chukwuemeka explained that at the time of the disconnection, her deep freezer was fully stocked with processed food items.
“I am a food processor and producer of small chops, and the items in that freezer were worth about N800,000. They were prepared ahead of relaunching my business in 2026 after spending heavily on burial expenses,” she said.
She lamented that the prolonged outage led to the complete spoilage of the frozen products, describing the loss as devastating for a small and medium-scale enterprise (SME).
“This is a huge blow to my business. That stock was meant to help me bounce back financially,” she added.
The business owner has called on PHED’s management to investigate the incident, confirm her payment status at the time of disconnection, and provide remedial measures to cushion the loss.
“As a law-abiding customer, I believe I deserve fair treatment,” she stated.
Efforts to obtain an official response from PHED were unsuccessful as of press time.
The incident has heightened concerns among SMEs in Rivers State over the impact of electricity disruptions on business sustainability, particularly in the food processing and cold storage sectors where steady power supply remains critical.
