from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – NIGERIA’S fragile power grid has collapsed again, thrusting the West African nation into darkness.
At the time of publishing this report, it was uncertain when services would be fully restored.
The parastatal, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), had yet to comment but some local transmission companies, including those serving the capital Abuja and the commercial hub of Lagos, had cited a national grid collapse for the outage in the early Wednesday afternoon.
Power resumption was set to vary depending on the location and outages were forecast to last several days in some areas.
Nigeria has experienced recurrent nationwide outages in recent months.
This has resulted in disruptions to business and telecommunications, including mobile SMS, voice and internet services.
The power grid is overpowered by the largest population in Africa, estimated at 232 million.
In a related development, flight delays have been reported on Wednesday following a runway incident at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (ABV) in Abuja on the morning of Wednesday.
Airport authorities temporarily closed a runway after a plane’s tyres burst upon landing.
No casualties had been reported but it was unclear how long the disruptions may last.
Also in Nigeria, Unionised medical staff have gone on strike to demand higher salaries.
– CAJ News