From Abdulfatah Babatunde
The Organised labour unions under the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have thrown the nation into darkness by shutting down the National Grid.
The Public Affairs Manager of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Ndidi Mbah confirmed the shutdown in a statement on Monday.
Mbah said the labour shut down the National Grid ”shut at about 2.19 a.m. this morning, 3rd June 2024”.
”Aso Rock, National Assembly, all airports, hospitals, universities, everything .. everyone disconnected from the grid,” TCN stated.
TheNewsZenith reports that paralysing the nation’s electricity hub followed the nationwide industrial action declared by the Labour.
“At about 1.15 a.m. this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that Labour officials drove away all operators from the control room.”
The statement added that union officials beat staff who resisted. In the process, some workers sustained injuries in the course of forcing them out of the control room.
“The centre was brought to zero. Labour Union also shut down Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba and Osogbo transmission substations.
“Some transmission lines were also left open due to the strike,” the manager stated.
On the power generating side, he said Labour also shut down generation units from different generating stations.
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“They initially forced the Jebba Generating Station to shut down one of its generating units. Later, three other units in the same substation subsequently shut down at a very high frequency.
“The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2.19 a.m.
“At about 3.23 a.m., however, TCN began grid recovery.
It uses 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 at recovering and stabilising the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide,” the statement further read.
The Labour’s action came following a last-minute push by the National Assembly to halt the industrial action by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
After a four-hour meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly, on Sunday evening in Abuja, the leadership of the organised labour said there was no going back on the nationwide industrial action.
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