Daily Trust Editorial of March 24, 2025
On Thursday, March 6, 2025, some Nigerian Air Force (NAF) personnel from Sam Ethan Air Force Base Ikeja, simultaneously invaded the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) office at Isolo unit office and the corporate headquarters at Alausa, Ikeja, over disconnection of electricity supply.
Then, on Friday, March 14, troops of the Nigerian Army were accused of forceful abduction, intimidation, assault, brutalisation of staff and destruction of facilities at the substation of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) in Badagry, Lagos State, over a power outage at its barracks. They picked two of the staff but released them later in the day. The soldiers were back again, demanding the restoration of light to their barracks even as the outage was not a localised fault.
The rampaging NAF personnel held both staff and visitors, including some journalists on duty at the IKEDC premises, for hours, breaking into offices and going away with some installations, laptops and phones.
Several of the employees were injured and brutalised while some were whisked away. Later, some top officials of the power company held a meeting with highranking officers of the Air Force, including Lagos State government officials, at Alausa, after which far-reaching decisions were taken to ensure that normalcy returned while efforts were on top gear to resolve the issues.
The NAF Base had been in darkness for over 16 days as all efforts to settle the N4 billion debt owed Ikeja Electric Company by the Air Force right from the inception of the base on April 14, 1964, to date had failed. The chairman of Ikeja DisCo, Kola Adesina, said the NAF’s N4 billion indebtedness has affected its operations, adding that all efforts to resolve the issue for seven years did not yield any fruit.
Agreed, military establishments need constant power supply in order to control the temperature of their armouries and other classified settings. But this should not serve as a license for them to go berserk.
As expected, the latest shocking invasion drew condemnations. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the incident “is unfortunate and a matter of grave concern to our nation while standing totally condemned.”
The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), in a statement by its Director General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, called on the federal government to set up a committee to carry out a holistic appraisal of electricity supply debt profiles of other military bases across the country with a view to clearing such debts where they exist.
He added: “The attack is a wrong signal for prospective domestic and foreign investors, stating that no rational investor would invest money in a country where his investments and personnel are compromised with such impunity as displayed.”
What is most worrisome is that this is not the first time military personnel are being accused of such offences. We at the Daily Trust condemn the attack on IKEDC and subsequent invasion at Badagry as they are a reckless exhibition of impunity and lawlessness. There is no grievance on the part of any individual, group (private or public), that justifies the invasion, harassment and destruction on its premises, no matter how legitimate it may sound.
The NAF, and indeed all military formations, should imbibe the democratic practice of using appropriate channels for conflict resolution rather than resorting to self-help. There should be utmost deployment of restraint and dialogue. They should uphold the highest standards of professionalism. An institution saddled with maintaining peace and security should not be caught perpetuating violence on the same citizens it ought to protect.
There must be strict adherence to rule of law and all personnel involved in any form of illegal action and all recalcitrant behaviour must be brought to book. Towards this, we call on the NAF to make the results of its investigations on the IKEDC incident public while ensuring all personnel involved face the full weight of the law.
We also urge the federal government, through the Federal Ministry of Finance and Federal Ministry of Defence, to urgently intervene and carry out a holistic appraisal of electricity supply debt profiles of military and security bases across the country and make haste to defray such payments. These debts must be cleared as IKEDC and other DisCos are private-owned capital-intensive entities. There must be a stop to the general malaise of continued huge indebtedness to providers of public and private essential services.
Moreover, we urge the military to consider generating its own power through solar and renewable energy. This will enhance their increased energy independence, cost savings, environmental sustainability, and also ensure resilience against disruptions. It is time for it to consider the security implications of relying fully on public power supply. After all, the provision of regular power supply should be part of the welfare for our defence and security personnel.
Most importantly, it is time the military shed its culture of brutality over civilians, a throwback from the shadows of the dark days of military rule. This is a clear deviation from established international standard operating procedures. If the military or any of its agencies have issues over power, it should express its grievances through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) or legal redress. Any other self-help is an anachronistic and gross violation of human rights which further damages the military’s civil-military relations efforts while making Nigeria’s reputation as an investment destination to dip.
