The leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) has shut down the headquarters of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) in Akure, the Ondo state capital over electricity tariff hike.
Our Correspondent, who covered the protest could see how the labour unions locked up the main gates of the company located at the popular NEPA roundabout, Akure, leaving the staff stranded outside the buildings.
Recall that the NLC and TUC had announced that they would shut down offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Distribution Companies (DisCos) nationwide because of the failure to comply with their demand for a total reversal of electricity tariff hike.
Clement Fatuase, the TUC chairperson in Ondo state, described the recent hike in electricity tariff as unjustifiable.
Read also: NLC, TUC, shutdown Discos offices nationwide
“The essence of this protest is to register our displeasure on the service of electricity regulation commission and DisCos nationwide and the plan of no tariff that we feel is more or less coming from the heartless government,” Fatuase said while speaking with journalists during the protest.
“What they feel to compensate those that voted for them is to add more burden, is to devalue the dignity of humanity and Nigeria.”
Victor Amoko, the NLC chairperson also said; “we discovered that the federal government is very silent over the increments at the tariff of BEDC and we say no to that increment because we know even with their tariff before we don’t have enough electricity in our domain, we are being punished and we don’t want to remain on that problem.
“So if they are going to increase it now, our problem will be increasing, and we know that they are not giving us enough electricity, so there is no need to support their plan and that is why we are here to locked-up all those offices that they are using to surcharge us in this country.”
The unions, however, said the BEDC and other DisCos offices would remain shut down until the government reverses the new electricity tariff hike.
