Nationwide-Strike: FCTA Workers Shut Down Secretariat-Gates  (Details)

Nationwide-Strike: FCTA Workers Shut Down Secretariat-Gates  (Details)

Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), under the aegis of the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), shut the gates of the FCTA Secretariat at No. 1 Kapital Road, Area 11, Garki, Abuja, on Monday morning. Naija News reports that as early as 8 a.m., the workers, complying with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) strike directive, locked and blocked the gates with vehicles.

The premises house the offices of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari.

In related news, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced that its workers have deliberately shut down Nigeria’s power grid as part of the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) strike. The nationwide industrial action began on Monday in protest against the Federal Government’s proposal of a ₦60,000 minimum wage.

TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah, in a statement titled “Grid shutdown: Union Deliberately shuts down the National Grid,” reported that labor unions had shut down several transmission substations. The statement detailed that the grid shutdown occurred at about 2:19 a.m. on June 3, 2024.

“At about 1:15 a.m., the Benin Transmission Operator reported that all operators were driven away from the control room. Staff who resisted were beaten, and some were wounded while being forced out. The Benin Area Control Centre was brought to zero. Other substations shut down by the labor union include Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo. Some transmission lines were opened due to the ongoing union activities,” Mbah explained.

The Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units, and three others in the same substation shut down due to high frequency, leading to system instability and the national grid shutdown at 2:19 a.m.

“At about 3:23 a.m., TCN began grid recovery using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. The labor union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide. We will continue efforts to recover and stabilize the grid to restore normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centers nationwide,” the statement concluded.