…Nigeria in blackout as striking workers shut down power grid
Striking Nigerian workers.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria has announced the complete shutdown of the national power grid by labour unions as the strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress begins this morning.
NLC and TUC commenced a nationwide industrial action today to press home their minimum wage proposal of N400,000 as against the N60,000 offered by the Federal Government.
In letters directed to members, many affiliates such as the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), the National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), and Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) have concluded mobilisation for today’s nationwide strike.
Other affiliates in conclusive mobilisation include the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Announcing the shutdown of the national power grid in a statement issued this morning by TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, the transmission firm said the action was deliberately done by the workers.
The statement was titled, “Grid shutdown: Union Deliberately shuts down the National Grid.”
It read in part, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby informs the general public that the labour union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide. The national grid shut down occurred at about 2.19am this morning, June 3, 2024.
“At about 1:15am this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room. Without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Centre was brought to zero.
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“Other transmission substations that were shut down by the labour union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo transmission substations. Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.”
On the power generating side, TCN said the power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants.
“The Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units while three others in the same substation subsequently shut down on very high frequency. The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2:19am.
“At about 3.23am, however, TCN commenced grid recovery, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. The situation is such that the labour union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide.
“We will continue to make effort to recover and stabilise the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide,” the statement added.
