Workers of the Ibadan Electricity
Distribution Company say they have become fearful in their office after
some soldiers attached to the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala Barracks,
Abeokuta, Ogun State, allegedly beat up one of them over “poor power”
supply.
Distribution Company say they have become fearful in their office after
some soldiers attached to the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala Barracks,
Abeokuta, Ogun State, allegedly beat up one of them over “poor power”
supply.
According to Punch Newspaper, the
soldiers, numbering about six and led by one Major Musa, stormed the
IBEDC substation – Olumo business hub, Rounder – on March 6 and met one
of them, Salau Adekunle, on duty.
soldiers, numbering about six and led by one Major Musa, stormed the
IBEDC substation – Olumo business hub, Rounder – on March 6 and met one
of them, Salau Adekunle, on duty.
They descended on Adekunle, the substation’s distribution officer, with horse whips.
It was learnt that presently
on the average, the barracks and environs got five hours supply daily,
which falls short of the soldiers’ expectation.
on the average, the barracks and environs got five hours supply daily,
which falls short of the soldiers’ expectation.
The victim, whose back bore effects of the flogging, said he ended up in a hospital because of the beating.
He said, “I was on duty on that day
around 12pm when the soldiers came into our office with horse whips.
They told me to get up and without explanation, they started beating me.
I had to go to the hospital for treatment. I informed our head office
and it promised to do something about it.“They had come earlier then to threaten
us. We reported at our head office and the head of the barracks was
petitioned. They complained that they did not get supply regularly, but
it is not our fault. They said they would be the ones to determine the
number of hours they want power. We told them it was not possible, but
they didn’t want to listen.”
Adekunle’s colleague, who does not want
his name in print, said they had explained to the soldiers that the
outage was caused by a reduction in the power generation nationwide,
adding that the explanation fell on deaf ears.
his name in print, said they had explained to the soldiers that the
outage was caused by a reduction in the power generation nationwide,
adding that the explanation fell on deaf ears.
He said the unit officials had received
threats from the barracks authorities, making them to be afraid whenever
they were on duty. He stated that the barracks had power for between
eight to 15 hours everyday until recently when power generation dropped
nationwide.
threats from the barracks authorities, making them to be afraid whenever
they were on duty. He stated that the barracks had power for between
eight to 15 hours everyday until recently when power generation dropped
nationwide.
He said, “Electricity supply is divided
into three levels – generation, transmission and distribution. This
implies that generation affects transmission, which in turn affects
distribution. The relationship between them is directly proportional. If
there is less sufficient generated power, then there will be less power
at our own side to distribute to the community, including the barracks.
Before now, there was supply for at least eight hours and at times, 15
hours.“Electricity generation has reduced from
4517MW to 2800MW and now to over 1500MW. All this is known and
understood by the soldiers in the barracks, but they pretend as if they
do not know; that is why they now get five hours’ supply per day.
Initially, the soldiers blamed us. Soon, it graduated to threats. They
once arrested us and took us to their barracks and detained us for
hours; l was a victim.”Another official said they had been
living in fear since the incident happened, adding that threats from the
soldiers had intensified.“They (the soldiers) said it would not
be threats again, but killing. Major Musa said he would send soldiers
we don’t know. We spoke out because we cannot wait for them to kill us,”
he said.
Attempts to speak to the spokesperson in
the brigade proved abortive. However, a soldier attached to the brigade
confirmed the attack to our correspondent on the telephone.
the brigade proved abortive. However, a soldier attached to the brigade
confirmed the attack to our correspondent on the telephone.
The soldier, who did not want to be
named because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said, “I am
aware of it (the attack), but I was not around when it happened. Power
supply is not regular in the barracks. We used to have power for eight
to 10 hours.”
Major Musa, however, denied leading soldiers to attack the electricity workers.
He said, “All the information is false. You can come to the barracks to get the correct information.”