The Transmission Company of Nigeria has declared the total shutdown of Nigeria’s power grid by labor unions as the strike initiated by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress begins.
NLC and TUC launched a nationwide industrial action on Monday to protest against the Federal Government’s N60,000 minimum wage proposal.In a statement issued on Monday morning by TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, announcing the shutdown of the national power grid, the transmission firm stated that the action was intentionally carried out by the workers.
Titled “Grid Shutdown: Union Deliberately Shuts Down the National Grid,” the statement reads: “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby informs the general public that the labor union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide. The national grid shutdown occurred at about 2:19 am this morning, June 3, 2024.
“At about 1:15 am 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. Other transmission substations that were shut down by the labor 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 labor union.”
Regarding power generation, TCN stated that 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 2:19 am.
“At about 3:23 am, 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 labor union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide.
“We will continue to make efforts to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centers nationwide,” the statement added.
