The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has called on the Nigerian Air Force, military authorities, and the presidency to identify and punish the officers involved in the assault on Ikeja Electric (IKEDC) staff and journalists.
On Thursday, armed personnel from the Sam Ethnan Air Force Base, Ikeja, stormed IKEDC’s headquarters in Alausa, Lagos, attacking workers and journalists.
Following the incident, Air Vice Marshal AK Ademulegun, the Area Officer Commanding, Logistics Command, visited the office, assuring an investigation.
However, during a TVC interview on Friday, the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy at ANED, Sunday Oduntan, dismissed any claims of ignorance regarding the attack.
He revealed that the Ikeja Air Force Base owes IKEDC a staggering N4.3 billion in unpaid electricity bills, with no visible effort to settle the debt.
Oduntan condemned the assault, stating, “For people to leave Ikeja Air Force Base fully armed in trucks, to go somewhere and start beating civilians; they made them lie down on the floor of the Air Force base, more than a hundred people, and beating them repeatedly, someone must pay for this.”
He likened the invasion to a coup against all electricity distribution companies, urging political leaders to take decisive action:
“This is to the political class, this is not the time for you to be kissing your husband or kissing your wife to make any public show at the National Assembly. What the Air Force from Ikeja did to us yesterday was an indication that they can do a lot of things to all of you.”
Oduntan also raised concerns about national security, warning that such unchecked military actions could escalate.
“What we should begin with now should be the issue of good governance. We should be at a point where no military person should be able to plan anything funny. What they did yesterday for us as DisCos is our coup. I pray they will not do that to the Lagos State Government, the National Assembly, or the Nigerian government. But unless these people are brought out, and we receive justice, I can assure you that they will do it again, and they will do it in a larger proportion. What happened yesterday was a coup against Ikeja Electric.”
He insisted on full accountability from the military authorities, emphasizing that the culprits must be publicly identified and prosecuted:
“Unless and until the military authorities do something about this openly and transparently, until they bring all the culprits to book, and we can see them, and they have to return the database, all the things that they took away. We no go gree (sic). They didn’t want us to see their faces from the CCTV, so they took the database away. There must be full restoration.”
ANED has vowed to pursue justice relentlessly, demanding that the presidency and military high command address the situation immediately.
