Three patients on life support at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital lost their lives after the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) cut off the hospital’s power supply.
In a statement on Monday, the hospital’s spokesperson, Hauwa Dutse, confirmed the incident, explaining that four patients were on ventilators in the Intensive Care Unit when the outage occurred, but only one survived.
According to report, KEDCO disconnected the hospital over an outstanding debt of ₦949.88 million as of the end of August.
In a separate statement, the company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Sani Bala, said the hospital must also fully pay its August bill of ₦108.95 million within 10 working days to avoid further sanctions.
Hauwa explained that the blackout had a direct impact on patients on life-support machines.
“On that very day, Friday, there were four patients on admission, and due to the power outage, three of them died,” she said.
She explained that the issue has been resolved after an urgent meeting involving stakeholders from AKTH, KEDCO, and the Police.
According to her, “The Managing Director immediately after the meeting directed KEDCO engineers to reconnect electricity to the hospital.
“The Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, AKTH, wishes to inform the general public that the matter has been resolved amicably in collaboration with KEDCO and the Kano State Commissioner of Police, CP Bakori.
“The management of AKTH expresses its sincere appreciation to the Commissioner of Police and the Managing Director of KEDCO for their timely support and concern during this challenging period.”
Meanwhile, KEDCO spokesman, Sani Bala, said technicians had sought to separate the hospital’s supply from residential staff quarters because of alleged wastage, but were initially denied access, prompting the shutdown that led to the disruption.