Three patients who were on life support at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital have died after the hospital’s electricity was cut off by the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
The hospital’s spokesperson, Hauwa Dutse, confirmed the deaths in a statement on Monday. She said four patients were using ventilators in the Intensive Care Unit when the power went out, and sadly, three of them died.
Reports say KEDCO disconnected the hospital’s electricity because of an unpaid bill of ₦949.88 million, which had built up by the end of August.
KEDCO’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Sani Bala, said in a Monday statement that the hospital also owes ₦108.95 million for August alone and must pay this amount within 10 working days or face more penalties.
Hauwa Dutse explained that the power outage had a serious impact on the patients who relied on life-support machines to survive.
“On that Friday, four patients were admitted and on life support. Because of the power cut, three of them lost their lives,” she said.
She added that the situation has now been settled after an emergency meeting involving the hospital, KEDCO, and the police.
After the meeting, the Managing Director of KEDCO ordered engineers to reconnect electricity to the hospital.
The hospital said in a statement: “Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital wishes to inform the public that the issue has been resolved peacefully with the help of KEDCO and the Kano State Commissioner of Police, CP Bakori.”
The hospital management also thanked the Commissioner of Police and the KEDCO Managing Director for their quick support during the crisis.
Meanwhile, KEDCO spokesman Sani Bala explained that their technicians were trying to separate the hospital’s power supply from the nearby staff housing area to reduce electricity waste. However, they were not allowed to do so at first, which led to the full disconnection and the tragic events that followed.
