Officers of the Nigerian Naval Command – NNS Victory, in Calabar, Cross River State, invaded the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) Plc in Calabar over the disconnection of power supply to their facilities.
It was gathered that the command is allegedly indebted to the electricity company to the tune of over N740 million in unpaid electricity bills accumulated over the years, and an additional current monthly electricity bill charge of N22 million.
The facilities that suffered the blackout are Akim Navy and Atimbo Navy barracks.
NewsGazette learnt that 10 well-armed naval personnel stormed the company’s premises on Saturday, March 11 and whisked away over 15 staff of the electricity company who have been held incommunicado since then.
Besides, NewsGazette further learnt that a nursing mother employee of the company, Mrs. Abigail Omori, collapsed in the process and was rushed by the officers to a naval medical facility in Calabar for treatment.
As of the time of fling this report, the company, it was learnt, was yet to be allowed to have access to Omori.
Following the incident, all PHED sub-stations in Cross River State have been shut down and the state plunged into darkness.
However, the navy has denied abducting any staff of the company but was silent on the alleged invasion
Meanwhile, the regional manager of PHED, Dr. Gabriel Modupe who confirmed the report, said millions of naira collected by staff before the attack could not be accounted for.
He said all efforts to engage the command on the debt issue met a brick wall.
“The matter has been reported to the police and the Directorate of States Services (DSS) respectively whose attempt to intervene has proved abortive,” he added.
