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 over the alleged unlawful invasion and assault of their members at the Bauchi Operations Office by personnel of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), Bauchi Operations Base.

The protesters declared that if the identified NAF personnel were not prosecuted in line with the relevant laws of the country within the shortest possible time, they would shut down electricity supply in the country.

The NUEE members, who trooped to the Police Command displaying placards with various inscriptions and chanting solidarity songs, demanded 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 remain calm and pursue the case logically and peacefully.

Rilwanu Shehu said, “If members of the NAF have the gun, we have the supply. We have the biggest legal backing to disconnect whatever we are supplying you, inasmuch 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 level. And that can even lead to 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 is 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 of the next line of action. Thank you very much.” (Nigerian Tribune)