Abandoned wire by electricity workers electrocutes 15-year-old pupil

Firstclass newsline learnt that a15-year-old resident of Ishaga Road
in the Idi-Araba area of Lagos State, Afusat Musa, has been
electrocuted by a live wire that was partially disconnected by
officials of Eko Electricity Distribution Company.
About four officials were said to have stormed the neighbourhood
penultimate Tuesday, around 2pm, and disconnected wires from houses,
whose residents had yet to pay their bills.
Firstclass newsline learnt that the wire cut from a storey building
was, however, abandoned on the roof of a mosque near the building,
while the other end was still attached to an electric pole.
Firstclass newsline learnt that moments after power was restored on
the fateful day, Afusat, a Junior Secondary School three pupil, who
lived in a house next to the mosque, was electrocuted.
She was said to be returning from an errand at about 7pm and touched
the metal pole of an aerial mounted beside her house.
She was said to have been rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was
confirmed dead on arrival.
A brother of the deceased, Aminu Musa, told a source that the manager
of the Idi-Araba office of the EKEDC visited the community after the
incident was reported at the Itire Police Station and the Lagos State
Environmental Protection Agency.
Aminu added that the manager denied knowledge of the workers'
operation in the area on the fateful day.
He said, "Immediately Afusat died, we went to the Itire Police
Station. LASEPA was also informed about the incident. The following
day, LASEPA officials, the electricity workers and their manager
visited us. The manager denied sending his men to disconnect wires."
Afusat's mother, Zainab, a trader, said the workers eventually
admitted complicity in the occurrence when people confronted them,
adding that the case was not properly handled because the family was
not influential.
She said, "We initially thought it was our wire that caused the
electrocution, but it persisted after my daughter died. It was
somebody who rushed in to tell us that a live wire was abandoned on
the roof of the mosque, which touched our house's roof. The workers
initially denied that they did come to our area for the operation. But
when people insisted they were the ones, they apologised, saying the
wire was mistakenly abandoned. If Afusat was from a rich family would
the case die like that? They did not even come in to sympathise with
us; they stayed outside."
The deceased's father, Alhaji Muhammed Musa, who described her as
obedient, said her death was caused by the nonchallant attitude of the
electricity officials.
He said, "Many wires were disconnected that day and we had to settle
them to fix them back. I paid them N1,500. A wire was not re-fixed
because the residents of the house did not settle them. It was
carelessness on their part to have abandoned the wire that was not
disconnected from the pole. When there was electricity later that day,
people started complaining of shocks but we did not know where it came
from until Afusat died."
The Chairman of the community development association, Mr. Rasheed
Bakare, said prior to the incident, several invitations had been sent
to the electricity company for a discussion on the poor state of
electric poles in the area, but were ignored.
He said, "Before this incident, we have written letters to EKEDC,
inviting them for deliberation on lingering issues relating to
electricity in this community, but they did not honour our
invitations. There are cases of falling wires and illegal pole
climbing, among others, which we wanted to discuss with them."
The Lagos State police spokesperson, DSP Joe Offor, said efforts were
on to get the statements of the workers complicit in the pupil's
death.
He said, "The DPO informed Lagos State of the incident and invited the
concerned workers to the station, but they have yet to honour the
invitation. Whenever our men go to their office, they are always told
that the workers have gone out. We are still making efforts to ensure
that they come to the station."
Calls made to the line of the spokesperson for EKEDC, Mr, Godwin
Idemudia, rang out. He had also yet to reply to a text message sent to
his number as of press time.
Firstclassnewsline.net