By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
Members of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Bauchi State Chapter, on Monday, embarked on a peaceful protest at the State Police Command headquarters against the alleged unlawful invasion and assault on their members at the Bauchi Operations office by men of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), Bauchi Operations Base.
The protesters declared that if the identified NAF personnel are not prosecuted in line with the relevant laws of the country within the shortest possible time, they will shut down electricity supply in the country.
The NUEE who trooped to the Police Cammand displaying placards with various inscriptions and chanting solidarity songs, are demanding for justice for their members.
Addressing the aggrieved members, the Deputy President-General (North) of the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Comrade Rilwanu Shehu, urged them to be calm and pursue the case logically and peacefully.
Rilwanu Shehu said, “If members of the NAF they have the gun. We have the supply. We have the biggest legal backing to disconnect whatever we are supplying you, in as much as you say you are not going to comply.”
He stressed, “The few amongst them, I know, it is not by force that you force me to give you supply. It is by your payment. Because I’m a businessman. I buy these products to ensure that other communities enjoy. But you cannot just consume the energy simply because you have a gun and humiliate my people. You will not pay, if I disconnect you, you say you will not pay. That doesn’t work.”
He added, “The Nigerian Air Force played their own role, and we’re going to show them that we know how to solve the problem by ourselves. After this period, if the problem is not solved within the shortest time possible, we’re going to escalate it to the national. And that can even move for an indefinite strike until our people are protected.”
He declared, “We’re not going to leave it like that. We’ll make sure we take up the supply of Nigeria if this thing is not resolved within the shortest time possible. Our people must work in an environment that will be safe. Nobody has the right to humiliate us. Nobody has the right to tamper with what we have as business people. Our staff must be safe wherever they are.”
He urged the protesters to exercise patience saying, “We’re going to engage. We just finished meeting with some of the security agents from the state. We’re engaging the Commissioner of Police to see what they can offer. If it is not what we propose, then we will notify you on the next line of action. Thank you very much.”
