Soldiers beat employees of Ikeja electric for refusal to restore electricity
Some employees of Ikeja Electric have opened up on how they were brutalised by Nigerian Air Force officers from the Sam Ethnan Air Force Base in Ikeja.
According to reports, the soldiers had stormed the IE headquarters in the Alausa area of the state capital, Ikeja, in a military truck, two OP-MESA vehicles, and others at about 7:40am.
According to Punch, some newsmen had gathered at the facility in preparation for a trip to Adiyan to unveil a solar project.
However, the soldiers caught them unawares, dragged them out of a bus and beat them thoroughly, even forcing them to sit on the ground.
The Air Force operatives, led by a woman and some men in mufti, occupied the office of Ikeja Electric for over one and a half hours, beating the workers and other people sighted on the premises.
They blocked the roads leading to the office, which gave them a field day to molest those within the premises of the electricity company.
The invasion reportedly followed the expiration of an ultimatum given to the Disco to reconnect the power supply of the air force base, which was disconnected because of a debt of ₦4bn, according to the Ikeja Electric spokesman, Kingsley Okotie.
READ ALSO: 65% Electricity Tariff Hike: My words were misrepresented, says Tinubu’s aide
Okotie said that the men vandalised doors, CCTV cameras, and other gadgets in the office.
In separate interviews with the aforementioned publication on Friday, some IE workers brutalised by the military officers described the invasion as a “broad daylight robbery and terror attack”, saying they were still struggling to recover from the shock.
A female security staff member of IE, Funmilayo Adeniyi, described the experience as one she would never forget.
“The military stormed in with guns and beat the hell out of me. Two of them carried me and threw me inside their van. I thought they were taking me to their barracks, but minutes later, they dragged me out and ordered all of us to lie on the ground. They poured water on us and beat us with plastic rods. They beat us so badly that we couldn’t even stand up,”she recalled.
Another IE security staff member, Olajide Kolawole, stationed at the main gate when the military men forced their way into the premises, also shared a similar account.
“Some of them even jumped over the fence. It was a terrible experience; they beat the hell out of me. The other guy working with me at the gate, Samuel, was also thoroughly beaten. After that, they took both of us and some other members of staff to the fuel dump within the premises. They ordered us to lie on the ground and started beating us. They even attacked the workers in the canteen,”he said.
Gabriel Fatoye, a worker in the facility department of the company, also recounted how the officers took his phone during the invasion.
“It was a very brutal experience. I was on my way back to the office from an outside engagement when the men broke in and stole my phone. They ransacked our office, broke the door, and took my phone, which I had left on the table. Since yesterday, I’ve tried calling my phone, but the line has been switched off,” he narrated.
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