The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has raised alarm over a looming collapse of telecommunications services in Lagos and Ogun States.
In a statement signed on Sunday by its President, Mr. Tony Emoekpere, the associations disclosed that the blackout would be triggered by diesel supply crisis caused by an indefinite strike just embarked on by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), a branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
The statement read: “We have been informed that the NUPENG PTD has embarked on a strike action, effective this morning, in protest of the persistent harassment of tanker and petroleum product drivers by police officers in Lagos State.
“Consequently, all truck loading operations and movements have been suspended indefinitely, pending further notice.”
“The ongoing strike is severely disrupting the diesel supply to our members’ base stations in Lagos and Ogun States, causing significant concern as numerous telecom sites are now critically low on diesel, threatening service disruptions.”
ATCON, the umbrella body of telecommunications companies in the country thus called for urgent intervention to to douse the standoff between the police and NUPENG to prevent network collapse across the two South West states.
“We respectfully request the urgent intervention of the Governors of Lagos and Ogun States to facilitate access to diesel from the depot, ensuring uninterrupted operation of our affected telecom sites,” it said.
