The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has called on the Nigerian Air Force, the military, and the presidency to identify and hold accountable the officers and personnel from the Sam Ethnan Air Force Base in Ikeja who attacked staff and journalists at Ikeja Electric (IKEDC) on Thursday.
The association has vowed to continue pursuing justice for those brutalized by the armed military personnel at the IKEDC headquarters in Alausa, Lagos, until the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Our correspondent, who was also assaulted during the incident, reports that after the attack, the Area Officer Commanding of the Logistics Command, Air Vice Marshal AK Ademulegun, visited the IKEDC office and promised to investigate the matter.
However, in an interview on TVC on Friday, Sunday Oduntan, the Executive Director of Research and Advocacy at ANED, said Ademulegun could not claim ignorance of the attack. Oduntan, who also serves as the spokesman for all Distribution Companies (DisCos), stated that the association would not relent in seeking justice until those responsible are held accountable.
Oduntan further revealed that the Ikeja Air Force Base owes a debt of N4.3 billion, with no apparent effort to settle it.
He said, “I want to believe that we’re in a sane country. I still want to believe that we’re better than we were in 1978 when Fela’s house was invaded. So, we want to see what will happen next. We have to see how the presidency and the military authorities will respond because heads must roll. Not ‘should’ roll—heads must roll.”
Oduntan condemned the actions of the military personnel, noting that they had left the Ikeja Air Force Base fully armed and in trucks, and proceeded to beat civilians. “They made over a hundred people lie on the floor of the Air Force base and repeatedly beat them. Someone must pay for this,” he emphasized.
He likened the attack on the IKEDC to a coup against all DisCos, urging political leaders to address the matter with the seriousness it deserves. “This was a traumatic experience that has left many of us sleepless since yesterday,” he added.
Oduntan also made a pointed appeal to the political class: “This is not the time for public displays or private distractions. What the Ikeja Air Force did to us shows they are capable of much worse. They demonstrated how easily a coup could be planned and executed. In a country where military personnel can freely sign out vehicles and trucks armed with men to attack civilians, we should be focusing on real issues—issues like good governance. No military personnel should ever be allowed to plan something like this again.”
He stressed that the incident against Ikeja Electric represented a “coup” against the company and warned that unless military authorities take decisive action, similar incidents could escalate. “If these men are not held accountable, I assure you, they will do this again, and it will be on an even larger scale.”
Oduntan also called for assurances of safety and justice for the affected individuals, noting that simply receiving reassurances from Air Vice Marshal Ademulegun after the attack was insufficient. “The President needs to react to this. Unless the military authorities act transparently, bring the culprits to justice, and return all the confiscated materials, including the database they took, we will not accept this. They took away the database because they didn’t want us to see their faces on CCTV. Full restoration is necessary.”
