Members of the loss control team of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) were detained on the University for Development Studies (UDS) city campus in Tamale by staff and security personnel of the institution.
This was after the team disconnected electricity supply to the university over the non-payment of GH¢447,000 in electricity bill.
The security officers locked the main entrance of the university and demanded that the team restores power to the institution.
The incident which lasted for almost two hours took the intervention of the military for the NEDCo staff to be released.
The supervisor of the loss control team, Samuel Kumi complained about the ordeal to Citi News.
“When we came, we identified ourselves and told them why we were there. They prevented us from carrying out the disconnection exercise. But I gave my men the go-ahead. Upon the disconnection, the staff and security gave the directive that our vehicle shouldn’t be allowed to move out of the campus. They said they will not let us also go out until we reconnect them. That is why we are here. That gate has been locked.”
Meanwhile, the University Relations Officer, Abdul Hayi Moomen said, although management does not endorse the actions of its staff, the action by the NEDCo staff was uncalled-for.
“Management does not endorse the fact that the NEDCo staff were held hostage. But official letters we have seen from the VRA do not suggest that UDS was to be disconnected because of non-payment of bills. Of course, UDS owes VRA some money, but the exercise was to replace post-paid meters with pre-paid meters”, he said on Eyewitness News.
