Maiduguri, the epicentre of Nigeria's 12-year battle against Islamist militants, is struggling after transmission lines were bombed in January, cutting the city's power and stifling efforts to rebuild its economy
The past 10 months have been the toughest of Zango's nearly 50-year career as his city of 800,000 struggles without power from the national grid.
Workers immediately fixed the transmission lines, but militants destroyed them within 48 hours. In February, a repair vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, killing one soldier and injuring three workers. Nigerian oil company NNPC pledged in August to build a 50 megawatt, gas-fired power plant in Maiduguri to cut its reliance on transmission lines. But the timeline for both the plant and transmission line repairs remains unclear.Ice seller Ahmed Yusuf can only run four of his 40 freezers and had to cut his 300 employees to 50 amid a near-doubling in diesel costs. "We have collapsed financially," he said.