Strike: Labour Union Shuts Down National Grid

Reported by Ayooluwa Afolabi

The organized labour union has shut down the national grid on the first day of its indefinite strike to protest the failure of the government to meet its Minimum Wage Demand.

Electricity workers closed down the National Grid as the strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress commenced at midnight.

Checks on grid data posted by the Independent System Operator showed that generation at midnight was 2,805.59 megawatts but dropped gradually to 28 MW at 6 a.m. on Monday with only Ibom Power on the grid.

Reacting to the situation, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, disclosed that labour unions chased away its workers.

A statement by TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah read: “TCN at this moment informs the general public that the Labour Union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide. The national grid shutdown occurred at about 2.19 a.m. 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, and 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 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, 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 at 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 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 labour 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,” she added.