Power Grid Shut Down As Electricity Workers Join NLC, TUC Strike

Power grid shut down as electricity workers join NLC, TUC strike

By Veronica Pius, Lagos

Electricity workers have shut down the national grid following the declaration of an indefinite strike by organized labour unions.

Ndidi Mbah, the spokesperson for Transmission Company of Nigeria, confirmed this to newsmen on Tuesday.

According to her, electricity workers, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), followed directives of the Nigeria Labour Congress to withdraw their services around 11:20 am on Monday, leading to a nationwide blackout.

“Electricity workers are NLC members; they’ve followed the directive by organized labour to withdraw their services from Tuesday”, she stated.

It was gathered that the Federal Capital Territory and its environs are experiencing a blackout.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress announced a nationwide indefinite strike starting Tuesday over the beating of NLC president Joe Ajaero in Owerri on November 1 despite a court order restraining the unions from doing so.

Reacting to the development, the Presidency, in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, said strike action by unions was a flagrant disobedience to court order and a lack of respect for the judiciary.

Accordingly, the government expressed displeasure that the nation’s economy and social activities should not suffer because of the personal interest of any labour leader.

Meanwhile, several other labour unions have joined the nationwide strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The NLC and TUC had said they would embark on a nationwide strike from midnight on November 14.

Festus Osifo, TUC president, while speaking with reporters on Monday, said the strike would remain until “government at all levels wake up to their responsibilities”.

The nationwide strike is a protest against the alleged brutality meted on Joe Ajaero, NLC president, in Imo state on November 1.

Ajaero was reportedly picked up from the Imo council secretariat of the congress in Owerri by heavily armed police officers.

However, the Imo police command said Ajaero was not arrested but was taken into protective custody to avoid being lynched by a mob.

On November 5, the national industrial court in Owerri, capital of Imo, issued a restraining order to labour unions against embarking on a strike in the state.

Also, the federal government had secured an order restraining the unions and their affiliates from embarking on the strike.

Despite the court order, the labour unions stood their grounds.

The NLC in a post on Facebook on Tuesday shared circulars of some of the unions that will join the strike.

“For the union makes us strong, solidarity forever, we want justice now!!!!,” The NLC posted on Facebook together with circulars.

The unions that have joined the strike include National Union of Electricity Employees, Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers.

Others include National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees, National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees.