The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reports that the “labour union has shut down” the national grid, causing a statewide blackout.
The national grid was shut down at approximately 2.19 a.m. on June 3, 2024.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) began an indefinite statewide strike today over the federal government’s unwillingness to raise the minimum wage from N60,000.
According to a statement issued by the TCN on Monday and signed by its general manager, Ndidi Mbah, staff at the Benin Transmission Operator were sent from the control room and battered by demonstrators.
The statement reads:
“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 Center was brought to zero.”
“Other transmission substations 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 on very high frequency.”
“The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, eventually shutting down the national grid at 2:19 am.”
According to the TCN, grid recovery began at about 3:23 a.m., with the Shiroro substation attempting to feed the transmission lines that send bulk electricity to the Katampe transmission substation.
“The situation is such that the labour Union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide,” the firm said.
TCN stated that it would continue to work to recover and stabilise the grid, allowing normal bulk delivery of power to distribution load centres around the country.