Nigeria’s fragile power sector may be heading toward a major crisis as the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has threatened a sweeping nationwide shutdown following what it described as a violent invasion and assault on staff of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) at the Egbu 132/33kV Transmission Substation in Owerri, Imo State.
According to multiple reports, including Vanguard and The Guardian, armed police officers allegedly stormed the facility on Saturday, attacking workers, destroying equipment, and holding staff at gunpoint in an attempt to force an “illegal outage.”
In a strongly worded statement cited by Daily Trust, NUEE revealed that its members on duty were beaten, molested, held hostage, and some abducted to an undisclosed location. The union has since directed all electricity workers in Imo State to immediately halt operations until further notice.
NUEE’s Acting General Secretary, Dominic Igwebike, condemned the incident, describing it as “a brutal invasion” and “an act of gangsterism carried out by police officers allegedly acting on behalf of the state government.”
“The officers forcibly invaded and vandalised the control rooms at Egbu Transmission Substation in an attempt to compel operators to grant an illegal outage,” Igwebike said.
“During the invasion, staff were disconnected at gunpoint, beaten and forced to open breakers under duress. Personal belongings—phones, laptops, vehicles—were destroyed, while CCTV cameras were vandalised.”
The alleged abduction of workers has sparked widespread outrage across the energy sector, with industry stakeholders calling for an urgent investigation.
NUEE warned that unless the federal authorities take immediate steps to guarantee the safety of electricity workers nationwide, the union will be compelled to withdraw services across the entire country, a move that could plunge Nigeria into a full-scale blackout.
As at the time of this report, neither the Imo State Government nor the Nigeria Police Force had issued an official statement addressing the allegations.
