Nationwide Blackout, Grounded Travellers As Labour Shuts Down Nigeria’s Power Grid, Blocks Access To Airports

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced a nationwide blackout following the shutdown of the national grid by organised Labour. The shutdown occurred at approximately 2:19 am on June 3, 2024.

Also, intending travellers have been left stranded as all entry points of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos are inaccessible, following the strike.

The general manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, revealed in a statement that Labour Union members, around 1:15 am, forcibly removed control room operators from TCN’s Benin Transmission Operator unit. Staff who resisted were beaten, resulting in injuries. Consequently, the Benin Area Control Center was rendered inoperative.

The Labour Union also shut down several other transmission substations, including Ganmo, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo.

On the power generation side, multiple generating stations were affected. The Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its units, with three additional units shutting down due to high frequency. These sudden forced load cuts led to system instability, ultimately causing the national grid to shut down.

TCN began efforts to recover the grid at around 3:23 am, utilising the Shiroro Substation to attempt to supply electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. However, the Labour Union continues to obstruct grid recovery efforts nationwide.

“The situation is such that the labour Union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide. We will continue to make effort to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide.” the statement read

Intending travellers have been left stranded as all entry points of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos are inaccessible, following the strike.

In a video of the situation in the Lagos airport which surfaced online, intending passengers could be heard lamenting over their inability to access the airport.

The action has resulted in the suspension of all flight operations from the airport.

The Organised Labour declared a nationwide strike to compel the government to agree on a new minimum wage for workers.

The NLC and the TUC have been in negotiation with the federal government over a new minimum wage since the government policies announced last year by President Bola Tinubu led to an increase in the cost of goods and services.

Chioma Kalu

Follow us on: