Staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) yesterday went on strike and shut down power supply thereby throwing some parts of the country into darkness. They said they were agitating for the new wage increase and against the presence of military personnel in some of the company's formations.In Kano, the workers under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) said they had received directives and were informed by their national headquarters that the federal government through the minister of power Prof. Barth Nnaji was planning to move on with the planned privatization of the company.State Secretary of the union, comrade Saminu Hassan who spoke to Daily Trust on phone said they were not against the sale of the company but rather clamouring for the payment of their dues before the finalization of the process.Comrade Hassan further said the presence of the military men in some power sites sends the wrong signal as they believe their work need not to be threatened by military presence.There was also total shutdown of power supply by officials of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Ondo State yesterday. Though the state's senior manager Public Affairs, Mr. Ademola Adegoke could not confirm the development, he said he was not in the position to comment because the development was a national issue.'All l know is that I am experiencing shutdown of power supply in my place, but I cannot make comments on some areas; our workers are not working and the development is a labour matter, which will be resolved soon,' he said.Our correspondent gathered that the development affected all the 18 local Government areas of the state. A resident of Ondo State, Mr. Batunde Kolawole told Daily Trust that he experienced power failure in his area at Ala Close in Akure around 5.20am.Similarly, electricity workers in Lagos were yesterday forced out of their offices by union officials in order to protest Federal government's decision to deploy soldiers to the company's offices in the country.Some of the business units visited by our correspondent were under lock and key.At the Ikeja distribution zone of the PHCN, operations were disrupted when officials of the National Union of Electricity Employees forced the workers out of their offices and shut the entrance gate.Mr. Mbang Etukube, Chairman, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) Lagos/Ogun Chapter told newsmen that the action was taken to protest government's directive that soldiers should take over the manning of PHCN facilities in the country.He explained that the action of the government is another way of disrupting the operations of PHCN nationwide. He called on the workers of the power company to immediately down tools in order to protest the development.'This is another way of dealing with workers by engaging soldiers to take over PHCN facilities across the country. Government should reverse the statement so that we can go back to our lawful business as PHCN workers,' he said.But Mr. Chris Akamnonu, Chief Executive Officer of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution zone faulted the strike by the union, saying it did go through proper procedure.According to him, before a strike can be embarked upon, there should be official notice to all zones and offices. He said: 'I really don't know what is happening but I have called on the leaders of the union for briefing, locking of gates will drastically prevent our operation. 'This will affect some of our customers who come with complaints and to pay bills in our offices; we hope this will be resolved urgently.The Manager, Public Affairs at the PHCN headquarter Mrs Efuru Igbo said there was no strike by the PHCN staff. 'We are not on strike; I don't know about the physical due diligence issue. What I do know is that a government should be able to protect its people and property which is why the army has been deployed to protect PHCN facilities across the country,' she said.Responding to why the deployment had to be extended to the Southern part of the country where there are no bombing incidents, she said: 'You don't have to wait for things to happen before you react. Government is being proactive. You must know that these facilities are located outside of the offices.
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