Strike paralyses businesses, airports, hospitals, power supply nationwide 

Members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), on Monday, locked out judges, lawyers, staff and litigants from accessing courts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in compliance with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC)’s directive.

Strike paralyses businesses, airports, hospitals, power supply nationwide 
Stranded Passengers at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja Photeo Credit: Joke Fasalu
Strike paralyses businesses, airports, hospitals, power supply nationwide 
Stranded passengers at nnamdi azikiwe international airport, abuja photeo credit: joke fasalu

Nigerian workers on Monday downed tools across the nation as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) began their industrial action over the hike in electricity tariff and a lack of consensus on a new minimum wage.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), said that the Labour Unions have shut down the national grid, resulting in blackout nationwide.
Mrs Ndi Mbah, TCN’S General Public Affairs Manager, said this in a statement in Abuha on Monday.
Mbah said that the national grid shut down occured at about 2.19 a. m this morning.
She said at about 1:15 a. m, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room.
Mbah said that members of 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 Unions 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 unions,” she said.
Mbah said that power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants.
She said that 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.
Mbah said that 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 effort to recover and stabilise the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide,”she said.
Judiciary workers lock out judges, lawyers, others

Members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), on Monday, locked out judges, lawyers, staff and litigants from accessing courts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in compliance with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC)’s directive.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)’s check at the FCT High Court, Maitama; Federal High Court (FHC); Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, showed that court activities were totally paralysed as JUSUN members positioned themselves outside the heavily locked gates.

“Nobody is allowed in, even judges,” he said.

Danjuma-Yusuf said the gate would be opened when the union received a directive from the national headquarters of NLC.

NAN reports that the NLC and TUC had, on May 31, declared an indefinite strike, beginning from today, June 3.

The organised labour decided to embark on industrial action after the negotiations between them and the government over the minimum wage of workers was deadlock.

 

Airports shut

Activities were halted at airports across the country including Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Lagos due to the ongoing industrial action.

At the Port Harcourt Airport, as early as 7:00 am, airport workers under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) blocked access into the airport for vehicles.

This left passengers stranded, forcing some of them to come down from their vehicles and trek into the airport. However, flights haven’t been disrupted and there is a heavy security presence.

According to the Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals Emmanuel Akagha, the passengers are still being allowed into the airport because the road leading to the airport connects some communities. He, however, said there’s no checking-in or boarding allowed.

It was a similar situation in Lagos State as passengers. At the airport, some stranded passengers were captured with luggage in hand. The aviation unions locked the gate, denying staff and passengers access to the terminal

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