National Association of Nigerian Students Zone (A), yesterday in Sokoto, issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to either restore power in some affected areas or else face mass action from the students and concerned youths of the State.
This was even as the students’ body described the recent disconnection carried out by PHCN within the metropolis without prior notice as reckless and inhuman. Affected institutions according to NANS include, Sokoto State Specialist Hospital, Sokoto State Water Board, Shehu Shagari College of Education, State Government residential areas as well as various other institutions.
Effect of the disconnection by PHCN, according to the students; include the death of three patients placed on life support machine at the State Specialist hospital, the distortion of examination in the affected institution, and severe scarcity of water in the affected areas for days.
In a press release jointly signed by zone (A) NANS secretary, Kasimu Aliyu Nakura and Bashir Umar Binji, Students Union Government, (SUG) president, Usman Dan-Fodio University, Sokoto, the student body maintained that, “Sokoto State government has, over the years, maintained steady payment of their bills which runs into millions of naira.
While calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the worrisome state of Sokoto PHCN, NANS said, “We are giving PHCN 24-hour to restore electricity as we will not keep our eyes open while some few people use their personal interest to jeopardise our educational career as well as the lives of our fellow youths”.