Military forces reportedly broke into the Eko Electricity Distribution Company’s (EKEDC) substation early on Friday morning and kidnapped two employees.
According to Babatunde Lasaki, general manager (GM) of corporate communications and strategy at EKEDC, who confirmed the event to journalists on Sunday, the military troops attributed their conduct to a protracted power outage.
The outage was caused by an ongoing project upgrade at the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) Agbara facility, Lasaki stated, and it was reported to the “commanding officer of the barracks, Lt. Col. S.L. Lawn.”
“It happened at exactly approximately at about 1.00 am on Friday 14th of March,” he said.
“Military personnel from the 15th Field Engineer Regiment, Topo Barracks, Badagry forcefully entered the premises of our sub-station and abducted the distribution substation operator and a proton security personnel on duty.
“The abducted staff members were subjected to physical assault with attendant injuries following the assault.”
Lasaki said the workers had been released.
“There was no evidence of infrastructure destruction,” he added.
The GM stated that the police had been notified of the occurrence, and the military high command in Abuja had also received an official letter of protest.
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On March 6, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) troops stormed the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) premises over the disconnection of electricity at Sam Ethnan Air Force Base in Ikeja, Lagos state, in a similar occurrence.
IKEDC said the NAF personnel vandalised the company’s office, “assaulted” staff members, and made away with several company assets.
