The Nigeria Electricity Management Service Agency and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company have described Saturday’s electrocution incident in Calabar, the Cross Rivers State capital, as unfortunate.
Aliyu Tahir, NEMSA Managing Director, and Dr. Gabriel Modupe, PHEDC Regional Manager, stated this on Tuesday.
They spoke when they visited victims of the incident in Calabar.
According to them, the sad incident would have been avoided if people heeded warnings not to erect structures under high tension wires.
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Speaking during the visit, Tahir, who doubles as NEMSA’s Chief Electrical Inspector, expressed worry that the power lines were old and required maintenance.
He said that there were a lot of defective areas along the network that required repairs to avoid a recurrence.
He said: “This incident would not have happened if the protection from the power lines were operated correctly.
“These networks in Calabar South are some of the oldest networks.
“There is a need for rehabilitation.
“This will be one of our directives to the utility company.
“They should ensure that these networks are rehabilitated immediately.”
On his part, Modupe said it was wrong for people to build under high tension wires.
He said that the risk of electrocution was high for residents of structures built under overhead wire lines.
The PHED official said that the firm would take care of the victims’ hospital bills and urged members of the public to obey safety warnings.
Muri Joseph Effiong-Edem, Clan Head of Efut Abua West in Calabar South, described the incident as “very unfortunate”.
Effiong-Edem urged the PHEDC to rehabilitate the old power lines in the community in the interest of the people’s safety.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that at about 6pm on Saturday, a high tension wire snapped and fell on a car, causing huge sparks that left people running frantically for their lives.
The situation however became dire when some residents of the area attempted to rescue the car, but were electrocuted and suffered some degrees of burns.
A similar incident happened in the Nyanasang area of Calabar in 2017, where lives were lost.
