Nigerian soldiers allegedly kidnapped, torture power workers over blackout

DDM News

Badagry, Lagos – Nigerian Army personnel allegedly attacked Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Eko DisCo) over a power outage.

The attack, as reported by Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) happened at the company’s office in Badagry, Lagos, around 1 a.m. on Friday, March 14, 2025.

This incident comes just a week after Nigerian Air Force officers invaded Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company in Alausa, Lagos.

During the Ikeja attack, Air Force personnel assaulted staff and journalists while vandalizing property worth billions of naira.

Sunday Oduntan, CEO of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), condemned the growing attacks on electricity workers.

“We are still recovering from the Ikeja Electric attack, and now soldiers have invaded Eko DisCo,” Oduntan said.

He stated that soldiers abducted two employees and took them to the 15th Field Engineers Regiment barracks in Badagry.

The abducted workers were a Distribution Substation Operator (DSO) and a Proton Security Officer on duty.

The soldiers were reportedly angry about poor electricity supply to their barracks over the past week.

Eko DisCo had already informed their Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. S. Lawan, about an ongoing Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) upgrade.

Efforts were made to restore power, but the feeder tripped due to excess load.

The abducted workers were allegedly tortured before being released at 4 a.m.

Growing attacks on DisCos

Eko DisCo spokesperson, Babatunde Lasaki, described the attack as an unfortunate and disturbing trend.

“The soldiers stormed our office at night, took two of our workers, and later released them,” Lasaki said.

He added that the soldiers returned later that day, demanding immediate power restoration.

“Our workers explained it was a fault, but the soldiers kept harassing them,” he added.

Eko DisCo’s legal team reported the attack to the police and plans to petition government officials.

“No one was punished for the Ikeja DisCo attack, so this will continue,” Lasaki warned.

He emphasized that power distribution is a value chain, not solely the responsibility of DisCos.

He called on authorities to protect electricity workers from military aggression.

Army denies attack, claims fire outbreak

Nigerian Army Director of Information, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, denied that soldiers attacked Eko DisCo workers.

He claimed the incident resulted from a fire outbreak at the barracks when power was restored.

Soldiers assisted in putting out the fire, but a minor disagreement occurred with an Eko DisCo staff member.

“It was a misunderstanding and was resolved quickly,” Nwachukwu stated.

He insisted that no Eko DisCo staff were detained or harmed by soldiers.

The Commanding Officer has set up a Board of Inquiry to investigate the fire’s cause.

Despite the Army’s denial, electricity workers insist military aggression is becoming a dangerous pattern.

Stakeholders urge the government to take action before another attack occurs.

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