The Nigerian Government has visited survivors of last Saturday’s electrocution incident in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State
The government through the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency led by the Managing Director and Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, Mr. Aliyu Tukur and his team expressed sympathy with the survivors at the General Hospital Calabar and inspected the scene of the incident.
At the scene of the incident, Mr. Tukur interacted with several eyewitnesses including the traditional leader of the Efut Abua West community, Muri Joseph Effiong Edem, who decried the intensity and spread of the current, which caused the fire outbreak affecting several polls and caused some damage to a residential building.
Responding, Tukur stated, “When we saw the video of this incident on social media, my team and I decided to come and sympathize with the community over this unfortunate incident and embark on fact finding mission to determine the root causes of severed high tension cable and proffer recommendations to forestall future occurrences.”
Continuing, he said, “It is unfortunate that Calabar is witnessing the second incident of this kind after 2017 electrocution, where lives were lost. It is so unfortunate. Electricity has become part of our daily lives but it is associated with a lot of hazards and these hazard are real and they can affect even the professionals if not protected. So, we have to use it safely and wisely.”
Warning
He cautioned people to avoid building houses, shops and other structures underneath high tension wires as well as urged the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company to perform regular maintenance of its infrastructure and defray the medical bills of the survivors.
“This incident would not have happened if the protections on the power lines were operated correctly. But because there were not operated correctly, the power lingered for some times before there was outage on the line,
“Also, this incident could not have happened if the utility company was carrying out maintenance of their power infrastructure as at when due. The network in Calabar South is one of the oldest networks, it is aged and there is urgent need for rehabilitation
“We have given directives to the utility companies to ensure that all structures under the powerlines are first of all disconnected from the power source and inform the relevant agencies to demolish the illegal structures under the powerlines.
“We thank God this accident did not result to loss of lives. We have seen that the survivors are responding to treatment. It is unfortunate because the accident should have been prevented. The utility company has owned up and taken up the bills of the survivors and we encourage them to do that immediately,” he further stated.
PHEDC
In the defence of PHEDC, the Regional Manager, Dr Gabriel Ikpe said, “It was actually a fault from the line where wires marry. It was raining and the whole ground was wet, so when that tree touches the line the wire marry, sparked and fell on the ground.
“We have been advocating for customers to stop living under high tension because a fault may occur and then you put yourself at risk but to God be the glory it was not fatal. We have also given them our assurance that we will take care of all their medical bills,”he said.
In his remarks, the Medical Superintendent, General Hospital Calabar, Dr. Takim explained that while one of the survivors was brought in unconscious, the other sustained first degree burns.
Takim stated, “One of them was brought in unconscious. Following treatment he regained consciousness and they are getting better, medically they are improving. As long as it is necessary we will keep them here and make sure once we are satisfied that they are fit, we will discharge them.”
Background
Eyewitness account has it that on Saturday, March 2, 2024 at about 6pm when the distribution company restored power to the area, there was a huge spark from the high tension cables, which cause the wires to snap and fall on a roof, several parked cars and vehicle spare parts shops.
The eye witness said, “As soon as they (PHEDC) restored electric power, the high tension sparked and the wire cut, a lot of passerby came to help, unfortunately one of them was electrocuted.”
It would be recalled that on April 17, 2017, seven people died, 11 sustained various degrees of injuries when a powerline fell on a football viewing centre where nearly 30 fans gathered to watch the UEFA Europa League quarter-final match between Manchester United and Anderlecht on satellite television.
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