Nigerians are currently experiencing a blackout following the shut down of the national grid by electricity workers, in compliance with the joint directive of the two major unions in the country.
The General Public Affairs Manager of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed in a statement in Abuja on Monday.
She said the national grid was shut down around 2:19am, while the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit reported at about 1:15am that all operators were driven away from the control room.
Mbah noted that workers that resisted were beaten while some sustained injuries as they were being forced out of the control room and without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Centre was brought to zero, while power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants.
She, however, said the TCN will continue to make efforts to recover and stabilise the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide.
In a related development, intending travellers are now stranded as all entry points into the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport have been blocked due to the ongoing strike, with all flight operations suspended.
