The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has shut down the headquarters of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) in Ondo state and Plateau State over electricity tariff hike.
Nigeriancablenewsonline.com gathered that the labour union has blocked the main gates of the companies, leaving the staff stranded outside the buildings.
Security operatives, including the police, Department of State services (DSS) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were seen around the entrance of the JEDC.
The NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had announced that they would shut down offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Distribution Companies (DisCos) nationwide as a result of the failure to comply with their demand of total reversal of electricity tariff hike.
Nigerian Cable News online had reported how the commission hiked the electricity tariff from N65/kwh to N225/Kwh for Band A users.
The Federal Government later approved a marginal slash, which labour rejected and demanded full reversal, giving an ultimatum of May 12.
The unions had also asked NERC to stop of what it described as “discriminatory practice” of segregating electricity consumers into “arbitrary” bands.
Giving an update on Sunday night, the head of information at NLC headquarters, Benson Upah, said members of the movement would converge on Labour House, Abuja by by 7am.
“NLC invites you to cover the picketing of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission headquarters in Abuja,” Benson said in the official notification sent to our correspondent last night.
He added that similar arrangement had been made nationwide.
NLC IBEDC Oyo
Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has grounded the operations of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) and Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over recent hike in electricity tariff in Oyo.
The leadership of the NLC in Oyo, Comrade Kayode Martins led the operation on Monday.
All the offices of the two bodies in Ibadan and its environs have been taken over by the labour union while the staffers were forced to vacate the premises.
Customers who had gone to some of these offices, especially the one on the Ring Road area, Ibadan were turned back as they couldn’t be attended to.
Confirming the development in a telephone chat, Martins said, “The step taken by the NLC is to send signal to the concerned authorities on the recent hike in electricity tariff.
“They should please ease the burden on the Nigerian citizens.
“They have removed subsidy on virtually everything that makes life worthy living for the citizens. The recent removal of subsidy electricity is another debacles.
“Living in Nigeria today is no longer easy. They should please make the atmosphere conducive for the common man”
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Oyo Truth is an independent online news /medium reporting up-to-date events, happenings and activities related to Oyo State, Nigeria.
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