The staff are also protesting over non-payment of about five years’ outstanding pension to retirees, inadequate provision of necessary work tools, lack of promotions for deserving employees and non-implementation of the 2024 National Minimum Wage.

Other issues, according to the workers, are failure to provide death benefits to the families of deceased staff members, non-implementation of the national minimum wage, improper placement of deserving employees, non-payment of electricity rebates and lack of recognition for long-serving employees.

Daily Trust reports that the management of Kaduna Electric in a letter dated January 31, 2025 to the affected workers, directed them to hand over the company’s property in their possession to the human resources department immediately, while plans to pay them their severance packages were underway.

The letter signed by the Deputy Managing Director of the KADECO, Abubakar Mohammed, told the affected workers that their services were no longer needed by the company effective from January 31, 2025.

However, the aggrieved workers, who carried placards with various inscriptions on Monday, blocked the entrance of the corporate headquarters of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company and prevented workers and even customers from going into the premises.The aggrieved workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) accused the management of high-handedness and fragrant disregard for all industrial agreements.

The Chairman, NUEE, Kaduna State Council, Comrade Sheyin Nuhu Wakili, while speaking to journalists, listed some of their grievances “including the failure of the management to provide exit benefits to employees that resigned or retired five years ago, and the plan to sack 900 staff,” which he said must be resisted by the union.