By Victor Ahiuma-Young

The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, has denounced the Thursday act of impunity by personnel of the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, Sam Ethan Airforce Base Ikeja, in the attack on Ikeja Electric, IE, Alausa headquarters and Oshodi office, where scores of employees were brutalized and properties destroyed.

Recall that the attack was precipitated by Ikeja Electric’s disconnection of the base’s electricity supply due to an N4 billion unpaid electricity bill, among other things.
The umbrella body for employers in the country, in a statement, warned that such impunity is a grave discouragement to investment inflow into the country.
NECA, in a statement by its Director General, DG Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, called on the Federal Government to set up a committee to carry out a holistic appraisal of the electricity supply debt profiles of other military bases across the country with a view to clearing such debts where they exist.
The statement reads: “On Thursday, 6th March 2025, Airforce personnel from the Sam Ethan Airforce Base Ikeja attacked the Ikeja Electric office at Isolo and the head office at Alausa Ikeja.

As a result, several of the employees that were on duty were injured and brutalized, while the properties of the company were damaged.

“The attack was precipitated by the disconnection of electricity supply to the Base by Ikeja Electric over unpaid electricity consumed, which runs into millions of Naira. The gory development has evoked the reactions of various stakeholders of the economy, particularly as the attack bordered on the quality of Nigeria’s democratic governance, which is a critical factor for investment inflow into the country.
“NECA frowns at the development. Such action is unlawful and capable of diminishing the headways made in democratic governance in the country over the years. Such intimidation and attack on a company of the caliber of Ikeja Electric shows a high level of impunity and is a bad omen for the future of the economy.
“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 by the Airforce personnel from Ikeja Airforce Base.
“It is unfortunate that while the Federal Government is working effortlessly to address the basic macroeconomic goals of growth of the economy and employment creation, some individuals are unscrupulously and deliberately undermining the efforts.
“The Ikeja Electric is a private entity that invests money to make gains for the sustainability of the company.
The company is also a strong employment generator, with over 2,600 employees who depend on it to maintain their families. “Ikeja Electric, as a private business, was lawfully registered in Nigeria and has the right to demand from the Sam Ethan Airforce Base management the accumulated outstanding electricity debt owed to the company and also suspend its service for non-payment.
“The urgency and critical importance to prevent the reoccurrence of such national embarrassment in view of the negative implication on the promising democracy of the country and the fragile investment space.
“We urge the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Finance and Federal Ministry of Defence to swiftly intervene in this graceless attack on Ikeja Electric such that the amount owed to the company will be paid to the company while electricity supply is restored to the Base.
“Ikeja Electric operates in a capital-intensive space, and the operation has been grossly affected by the prevailing operating environment.
“We also call on the Federal Government to also leverage this attack to set up a Committee to carry out a holistic appraisal of electricity supply debt profiles of other military bases across the country. Where such debt is found, an arrangement should be made to swiftly defray them and adequately preclude a repeat of the attack on the DisCos anywhere in the country going forward.”