  Three charge-ordering lanthanum nickelates La2-xAxNiO4, substituted with
specific amounts of A = Sr, Ca, and Ba to achieve commensurate charge order,
are investigated using broadband dielectric spectroscopy up to GHz frequencies.
The transition temperatures of the samples are characterized by additional
specific heat and magnetic susceptibility measurements. We find colossal
magnitudes of the dielectric constant for all three compounds and strong
relaxation features, which partly are of Maxwell-Wagner type arising from
electrode polarization. Quite unexpectedly, the temperature-dependent colossal
dielectric constants of these materials exhibit distinct anomalies at the
charge-order transitions.
