Three patients on life support at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano have died after the hospital’s electricity supply was cut off by the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
Hospital spokesperson, Hauwa Dutse, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday evening.
She said four patients were on ventilators in the Intensive Care Unit when the power went out, but only one survived.
Reports say KEDCO disconnected the hospital over an outstanding debt of N949.88 million as of the end of August.
In addition, the company said the hospital must pay its August electricity bill of N108.95 million within 10 working days or face further action.
“The blackout had a direct impact on patients relying on life-support machines. On that day, four patients were admitted in ICU, and sadly, three died as a result of the outage,” Hauwa explained.
She added that the issue was later resolved after an emergency meeting between AKTH management, KEDCO officials, and the Kano State Commissioner of Police.
Following the meeting, KEDCO engineers were ordered to reconnect electricity to the hospital. “AKTH appreciates the support of the Police Commissioner and the KEDCO Managing Director for their timely intervention during this difficult period,” the statement read.
KEDCO’s spokesperson, Sani Bala, explained that the disconnection happened after technicians tried to separate the hospital’s power line from staff residential quarters due to suspected wastage, but were denied access. This, he said, led to the shutdown that caused the tragic disruption.
