NISO says substation invaded by gun-wielding ‘Imo state operatives’, threatens power cut

By Abubakar Yunusa

The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) says some of its staff members are missing after gun-wielding “Imo state operatives” allegedly invaded the Egbu transmission substation.
NISO said the officials broke into the control rooms in an attempt to “force the operators to grant illegal outage”.
“Information received from Owerri indicates that the state government operatives allegedly acting on behalf of the Imo state government forcefully entered and tvandalised the control rooms at the Egbu 132/33kV transmission substation in their bid to force the operators to grant illegal outage,” NISO said in a statement on Saturday.
“After forcefully effecting disconnection at gunpoint, all NISO personnel on duty at the affected facilities were held hostage and forced to open the breakers by the operatives.
“Efforts to reach the Imo State Government for clarification have so far been unsuccessful.”
The system operator said contact was made with Bede Okpara, chairman, Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, who confirmed that he was aware of the incident and promised to revert with more information.
“As at the time of this report, no update has been provided, and no government agency or representative of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission has contacted NISO regarding the matter,” the statement reads.
“The continued absence of official communication on the status of our personnel gives the NISO management serious concern.”
NISO said if it is unable to ascertain the whereabouts and safety of the affected staff, “all transmission substations within Owerri will be disconnected from the national grid”.