Nigeria was plunged into widespread darkness on Monday following the collapse of the national power grid after several major power plants lost generation.
Checks by our correspondent confirmed that the grid failure occurred at about 3pm, cutting electricity supply across many parts of the country.
Data obtained showed that power generation, which had peaked at approximately 4,800 megawatts earlier in the day, dropped sharply to about 139 megawatts by 3pm.
The immediate cause of the collapse could not be confirmed as of the time of filing this report. However, the incident came amid efforts by the Nigerian Independent System Operator to ramp up electricity generation after recent gas supply disruptions linked to pipeline vandalism.
As at press time, all 22 power plants connected to the national grid had reportedly shut down, resulting in a nationwide blackout.
