Boko Haram Leaves Maiduguri In Total Darkness, Attacks Power Station

For three weeks running, Maiduguri, the
Borno State capital, and its neighbourhoods
have been plunged into total darkness
following the reported damaging of major
electricity installments around Damboa town
by Boko Haram terrorists, security sources
said.
For about 21 days now, the entire city of
Maiduguri has not enjoyed electricity coming
from the national grid.

A military person who spoke to Leadership in
Maiduguri confirmed that the Boko Haram
insurgents had detonated bombs that affected
the high-tension installations around Damboa
and has since left the about two million
residents of Maiduguri in total blackout.

Many residents now have to depend on power
plants while major business outfits and even
government offices depend solely on
generators throughout the days.

The power outage has since caused residents
some serious economic hardship as most
businesses that depend on electricity now
hike the prices of their products.

Many households that used to depend on the
few hours of electricity supply from the
national grid to produce their iced blocks
needed for the Ramadan fasting period now
have to buy from hawkers at expensive
prices.

“We now buy iced sachet water for N25 but
before it used to be sold for N10 each or, in
some cases, two sachets of iced block for
N15,” said Bashir Mustapha, a resident of
Maiduguri.

Boko Haram has, in the past three years,
vandalized public infrastructure like
telecommunication masts that had hitherto
cut off various parts of Borno State from the
rest of the world. The group had also used
bombs and fire to destroy schools, hospitals,
police offices, barracks and even cratering of
roads. Their most recent attack on public
infrastructure was the bombing of an ultra-
modern drilling rig procured by Borno State
at the cost of over N300 million at the site
where it was mobilized to drill water for rural
dwellers of the northern part of Borno State.

Source: Leadership Newspaper