Tragedy in Minna: Woman Dies After Power Outage Disrupts Surgery at Jummai Babangida Aliyu Hospital
A woman has tragically passed away after a power outage and generator failure disrupted her surgery at Jummai Babangida Aliyu General Hospital in Minna, Niger State.
Her husband, UB Shehu, shared the heartbreaking account on Facebook, describing how technical failures and delays marred the operation.
“Thirty-five minutes into my wife’s surgery, Abuja Electricity Company (AEDC), commonly known as NEPA, cut the power. There was no fuel in the theatre generator at Jummai Babangida Aliyu General Hospital,” he wrote.
Shehu recounted that he waited anxiously outside the operating theatre for nearly 11 hours—from 8:44 a.m. until 7 p.m.—holding onto hope despite the growing delays. “Minutes later, they brought fuel, but after pouring it into the generator, it refused to start. They had to look for a mechanic,” he added.
He further explained that a technician had to travel to Ogbomosho in Minna to buy the necessary parts to repair the generator.
Although power was eventually restored after an hour, the generator repairs dragged on, causing the surgery to extend far beyond its scheduled time.
“An operation that wasn’t supposed to last 90 minutes ended up stretching from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.,” Shehu explained. Even as the situation worsened, a nurse tried to reassure him, saying that the operation could continue with alternative lighting, such as lamps or torchlights.
In his emotional post, Shehu emphasized that he was not seeking to blame anyone but wanted to raise awareness and prevent future tragedies.
“The narrator is not targeting anybody—just trying to save lives and avoid future occurrences,” he wrote. “I have already reported my case to Almighty Allah.”
Attempts to reach Dr. Bello Tukur, Niger State Commissioner for Secondary and Tertiary Healthcare, were unsuccessful, as calls and messages went unanswered.
COMMENTS