The Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) on Thursday protested the alleged arrest and continued detention of five staff members by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company(EEDC).
New Telegraph gathered that the protest, which took place simultaneously at EEDC district offices in Awka, Onitsha, and other locations across the state, saw workers blocking entrances and halting all operations.
The detained staff, including a mother of three, were allegedly arrested on July 31 by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Awkuzu, on the orders of the EEDC management over alleged professional misconduct.
The aggrieved workers also lamented poor remuneration, harassment, lack of medicare, intimidation by the Enugu Disco, alleging that several workers have died and others have been rendered incapacitated due to the policies of the EEDC.
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The EEDC, which is responsible for the distribution of power in the South-East states of Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi, is also being accused of operating an “oppressive working environment” for electricity workers across the South-East.
The protesting workers, who marched from the main entrance of the service and customer offices in Onitsha and Awka, around the neighbouring streets, disrupted operations and prevented access to the premises, while carrying placards with varying descriptions.
Some of the descriptions on their placards read, “Release our members unlawfully detained”, “Pay your staff very commiserate salary”, “Stop slavery of your worker”, “Electricity workers say no to intimidation and harassment”, “Stop breaking the terms and conditions of service”, among others.
Speaking during the protest, the Chairman, Ndukwu Bonaventure, said, “No one knows their whereabouts, including their family members, until we started making enquiries at police formations across the state.
”As a union, we went round the police formations across the state until we discovered them at the detention camp in Awkuzu SARS, and that was after five days when we had toured almost all the police formations across the state.
”Our members cannot continue working under the constant threat of arbitrary arrests. We will continue to pursue justice through peaceful and lawful means. While we condemn any acts of misconduct, we insist that disciplinary procedures must follow due process.
“We do not condone fraud or malpractice, but our members are not criminals and must not be treated like armed robbers. There are established internal procedures for handling such matters, and those must be respected.”
