Nigerian electricity union strike causes nationwide blackout

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria” A company sat (AP) — Authorities in Nigeria say more than 200 million Nigerians were plunged into darkness for several hours when striking electricity workers shut down the West African country’s power grid. Nigeria’s power transmission company says the nationwide blackout began Wednesday when several transmission lines and feeder lines were switched off by union members. Electricity was eventually restored in parts of the country after about 12 hours. Such strikes in addition to the poor generation of power and the frequent collapse of the electricity grid have been blamed for the poor electricity supply that has been a decades-long challenge for many Nigerians.