Distribution Companies (Discos) in Nigeria have lamented the frequent attacks on their officials by the military, disclosing that in the latest beating of their staff by the army in Lagos, it wasn?t about monies owed, but the cut in supply while repairs were ongoing.

Umbrella body of the Discos, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), stated on Arise Television yesterday that several communications were made with the military before the load shedding by Eko Disco began, explaining that despite that, its staff were brutalised by the army.

ANED?s Executive Director, Sunday Oduntan, explained that this came less than a week after the Air Force in Ikeja attacked its employees, explaining that although unacceptable, not all military personnel were bad.

?In the case of Lagos, they informed us and we sent messages. We made announcements to all our customers. In the case of Badagry area, the upgrade was to happen in Agbara industrial estate, which will affect Badagry and other places, including Topo military barracks.

?So we informed them. In the case of military barracks, we actually informed the commander, Lieutenant Colonel S. Lawan. We did all of this in writing. As far as we were concerned, they knew that there would be a restricted supply of power.

?We even tried a couple of times to restore power, but because of excess load and not enough energy coming through from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to us, we could not serve the area better. So, on the night of the 14th of March, at exactly 1am, soldiers from that barrack called it 15th Field Engineers Regiment, Topo, Badagry went to our injection facility.

?An injection facility is just a small building. We have a DSO, that is, a distribution officer. That is a person that will put on lights on and off when you get from TCN. That is the interface. He was there with a security officer from a private security company.

?They just grabbed them, abducted them from that place at 1am, and took them and seized their phones, took them to their barracks and inflicted injuries on them. After beating them and doing all sorts of things to them, they brought them back at 5am to that office. It was at that point that those guys could then inform the head office. That was how we knew about this,? he stated.

Describing the brutalisation of its officials as very unfortunate, Oduntan stated that as utility providers, the Discos were not against the military, stressing that the latest incident in Badagry wasn?t the fault of the power distributors.

?That upgrade was meant to increase power supply to all parts of Lagos state. And that is going on all over the country. So, we are receiving these kinds of attacks and assaults, and it is just shocking,? Oduntan insisted.

Meanwhile, the TCN has announced the restoration of normal bulk power supply to Eko and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Companies for onward distribution to their customers in Lagos State.

The restoration, it said, followed the successful completion of repair works on a part of the 330kV transmission line, between towers 420 to 422 of the Osogbo-Omotosho line, which was completed on Saturday, March 15, 2025.

?The repair addressed a line snap, restoring lost power and resuming normal bulk transmission. Consequently, load shedding caused by the line cut has been stopped.

?TCN appreciates the understanding and cooperation of the Lagos State Government, Eko and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Companies, and electricity consumers in Lagos State during the period of load shedding, ? a statement by TCN?s spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, said. (THISDAY)

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