Four Northern States In Darkness As Electricity Firm Workers Protest

Adamawa, Yobe, Borno and Taraba States have been thrown into darkness following a protest by workers of Yola Electricity Distribution Company over poor condition of service.
The strike action embarked upon by Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies with support of the Trade Union Congress last Wednesday, had reportedly paralysed operations of the Disco.
The protesters, led by Nasiru Dembo, deputy president general in charge of North SSAEAC, picketed the Disco office, demanding the review of the condition of service of employees.
Many residents from the affected states, who turned up on the first day of the strike action at the office could not buy cards for  their pre-paid meters nor resolve complaints which had to do with electricity supply from the Disco.
However, the situation which left many towns and cities of the North- East in total darkness was further exacerbated by last Thursday’s downpour which caused some of the main power supply feeders conveying power supplying from the TCN to trip.
The disaster which had yet to be rectified according to the head of Public Affairs and Communication, YEDC, Kingsley Nkemneme, because of the ongoing strike action embarked upon by workers, was responsible for the blackout experienced in parts of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Taraba.
He said, “As it is now, there’s no power supply in these states. And the reason for this is the downpour experienced this morning (last Thursday) which forced some of our feeders down and there’s no one to go and fix it.
“This has affected the four states including parts of Maiduguri which has been without electricity supply since last Wednesday). But this, however, does not mean a blanket darkness, since it only affected areas covered by the feeders in the four states. Because of the strike, once there’s a fault on your lines nobody is going to fix it.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Nasiru Dembo, decried the neglect of workers welfare by management of the YEDC, lamenting that it had yet to implement an agreement reached with government over issues bordering on promotions, re-tooling and the disparities in emoluments among staff.
But Nkemneme who called for patience and understanding from his colleagues, said the issue of conditions of service raised by the employees’ union had not been concluded, as it was receiving attention from the management.