By Francesca Hangeior

The national grid has collapsed for the third time in less than a week, plunging the nation into a major blackout.

The grid, which has experienced significant disruptions over the past few days, was restored just two days ago before suffering another collapse on Saturday.

As of 9 a.m. today, checks revealed that the grid was transmitting 0 megawatts to the eleven distribution companies (DisCos) nationwide.

This marks the eighth grid failure in 2024, with three occurring within the past week.

At the time of reporting, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), responsible for managing the national grid, has yet to release a statement regarding the latest collapse.

It was gathered that several states remain without power, as the grid’s inability to transmit electricity has left households and businesses in complete darkness.

Various distribution companies (DisCos) confirmed the latest collapse, which occurred around 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

The DisCos reported that efforts are underway to restore electricity, but the frequent collapses have heightened frustration among citizens and businesses already grappling with unreliable power supply.

In a message to its customers, Ikeja DisCo stated:
“Please be informed that we experienced another system outage today, 15/10/24, at 09:17hrs, affecting supply within our network.

Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us.”

By Francesca Hangeoir

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said a drone was launched towards his residence in Caesarea on Saturday after the military reported a drone from Lebanon had “hit a structure” in the central Israeli town.

“A UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was launched toward the prime minister’s residence in Caesarea. The prime minister and his wife were not at the location, and there were no injuries in the incident,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether the structure reported hit by the military earlier was his private residence.

The military said three drones had been fired from Lebanon on Saturday and it had intercepted two.

A barrage of projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Saturday, with sirens blaring across northern Israel at regular intervals.

Lebanese authorities meanwhile said two people were killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday in Jounieh, north of Beirut, in the first strike on the area since Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire last year.

The health ministry said an “Israeli enemy raid” hit a car in Jounieh, with Lebanese state media saying the attack occurred on a key highway linking the capital to the country’s north.

Israel is fighting a war against Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, with Israel sending ground troops across the Lebanese border last month.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had destroyed Hezbollah’s regional command centre with an air strike.

Hezbollah said it fired a salvo of rockets at the Israeli city of Haifa and areas to its north.
The group later said it launched “a swarm of explosives-laden drones” at an “air missile defence base” east of the central Israeli city of Hadera.

A tragic incident occurred in the Ipaja area of Lagos State on Wednesday when a young man fell into a canal while allegedly being chased by police officers.

In a post on X.com on Thursday, #Omorhemi, who claimed to be a friend of the victim’s wife, alleged that the police stopped the man on a bike, searched him, and accused him of being a “yahoo boy” due to his tattoos.

Sharing videos from the rescue effort, she wrote, “Yesterday morning, police chased my friend’s husband till he fell into the canal. They took his slippers and money that fell and left when people started shouting. This happened at federal bus stop, Ipaja Ayobo axis. He is currently unconscious at LASUTH. He is still on oxygen.”

“The officers were on mufti. They stopped him on bike, the bike man left. They searched him, insisting he is a Yahoo boy because of his tattoos, and started cocking their guns that they would shoot him. He started moving away, saying he’s not, and they started following him till he ran,” she added.

On Friday morning, #Omorhemi gave an update that the young died.

“He has given up! Yet to tell the wife as of now. I am not pleased to inform you that this young man died in the middle of the night.

“On Wednesday, a few hours after the incident, the wife went to the police station, Area P, to report. The officers told her they were the ones that pushed him. She couldn’t wait and wasn’t stable while still trying to get the husband to receive the best treatment. All hands have been on deck to make sure the man survived, which was why follow-up at the station was not done,” she wrote.

In a statement on Friday evening, the Lagos State Police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, provided a different account of the incident, stating that the police did not chase or interact with the man, but rather, he ran and jumped into the canal after seeing the police approaching.

Hundeyin wrote, “The police visited the scene and met eyewitnesses on ground who voluntarily gave their statements regarding the unfortunate incident.

“At about 10 am on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, somewhere around Gowon Estate, the young man was a passenger on a motorcycle riding against traffic.

“Immediately they sighted the police approaching in their vehicle; the rider made a sharp U-turn while the passenger jumped off the motorcycle, crossed the road, and ran through the nearby tipper garage.

“People in the garage who saw him running towards the canal and at the same time emptying the contents of his pockets agitatedly warned him about a canal ahead. He did not stop but unfortunately jumped into the canal.”

Hundeyin maintained that the police officers did not interact with the victim or chase him.

He added, “The police officers, startled at his knee-jerk reaction, stopped their vehicle, alighted, and went in the direction of the canal.

“The people around informed the police that the young man jumped into the canal. They all went to look, waited some minutes, and did not see him, upon which the police left, believing he successfully evaded them.

“The police officers did not speak with him, did not touch him, did not chase him, did nothing. The young man simply saw them and bolted.

“Water Tipper Garage, Mosan, Okunola, Ipaja. That is the exact location for those who might wish to visit for verification.”

The spokesperson also expressed condolences to the victim’s family, saying, “May God give his family the fortitude to bear the sad loss. Amen.”

He further assured the public that the police would not tolerate any unprofessional behaviour from their officers.

“Lagosians are assured that #LagosPoliceNG, under CP Olanrewaju Ishola, would not condone any form of unprofessional conduct on the part of its officers,” he said.