N42bn debt: Corpses rot in Army mortuaries as DisCos cut power supply

Corpses in mortuaries within some barracks of the Nigerian Army are rotting away over power outage, Daily Trust Saturday reports.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Taoreed Lagbaja, disclosed this when he visited the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu to seek intervention.

Recall that the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) had given 83 ministries, department and agencies in its franchise area a 10-day notice to pay the N47.1billion debt they owed the company or risk disconnection.

Aso Rock was listed among the debtors, but President Bola Tinubu waded in immediately after the notice was issued.

The president had ordered that the debt be cleared.

During his visit to the minister, Lagbaja regretted that some barracks and cantonments had been in darkness since January.

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

He further said it was impossible for the Army to raise funds to pay the entire debt and solicited for liquidation as was done in 2005 by the then president.

He assured the minister of the Army’s unflinching support towards developing intelligence strategies in curbing the menace of electricity infrastructure vandalism.

Adelabu assured the Nigerian Army of his readiness to dialogue with DisCos to find a way out of the problem.

According to the Special Adviser, Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the minister, Bolaji Tunji, Adelabu reiterated the importance of liquidity and funding in the sector, adding if the debts could not be written off, he would intervene in order to restructure the debt payment if there was assurance of regular payment by the Nigerian Army.