Army Chief Appeals For Debt Relief As Blackouts Cause Corpse Decomposition

Eko Hot Blog reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has appealed for the clearance of the Nigerian Army’s N42 billion electricity debt following widespread blackouts at barracks and cantonments. During a visit to the Minister of Power, Lagbaja revealed that the outages have led to decomposition of corpses in Army mortuaries, prompting protests.

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“Debt owed is loaded on the meter, so no matter the amount of credit we put, the meters pick it automatically. Corpses in the Army mortuaries are decomposing and the owners of the corpses are protesting,” Lagbaja lamented.

He described the blackouts as security threats and requested debt liquidation like was done in 2005. Lagbaja said some facilities have been without power since January.

In response, Minister Adebayo Adelabu assured Lagbaja of engaging with distribution companies to relieve the Army’s N42 billion debt burden but stated the debt cannot be written off entirely.

Adelabu said he would intervene for a repayment plan if the Army commits to regular payments. He noted vandalism, theft, poor metering and other issues plague the power sector, stating “a government that is barely eight months old cannot use a magic wand to proffer a solution.”

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