In these interviews with JOHN CHARLES, residents of Wadata area of Makurdi, Benue State capital, tell sad tales following a power surge on the morning of Thursday, February 24, 2022, that claimed the lives of no fewer than seven persons in the neighbourhood
What is your name and age?
My name is Vivian Nkemba. I am 21 years old.
Is it true that you lost two siblings to the recent power surge in this area?
It is true. I lost my elder sister, Joy Ijeoma Nkemba, and brother, Victor Emunuke Nkemba. Joy was 30 years old. She was the breadwinner of the family because we lost our father about six years ago. Victor he was 23 years old. Joy was a hairdresser while Victor was an apprentice tailor.
How did the power surge lead to their death?
The tragic incident happened about few minutes before 8am. There was a blackout throughout the night. Myself and my five siblings were in the house with our mother and her three grandchildren. My mom was standing close to the fridge. We were chatting, playing and cracking jokes in the room. Suddenly we saw electric sparks under the fridge and my mom, who was close to the fridge, suddenly fell down. My brother immediately stepped forward to disconnect the fridge from the electric socket but he got electrocuted. I shouted and rushed out of the room to call for help. By the time I ran back inside I saw my sister also on the floor. I discovered that the whole floor felt like it was electrified. I still don’t know how my other siblings and the grandchildren escaped it. It was a gory experience.
What about your mother?
Our mother is presently at the Federal Medical Centre at Apir, where she is receiving treatment. She sustained serious injuries to her body. The hospital said her hand may be amputated.
How is she taking the death of your siblings?
She doesn’t know yet; we have not told her. Their remains are at the morgue. Our dad is no more alive; he died about seven years ago.
Has officials of Jos Electricity Distribution Company visited you?
One man, who identified himself as the company’s Managing Director from Jos, came here and promised that the Makurdi Regional Manager would come to see us but we haven’t seen anyone.
My daughter’s death God’s will– Octogenarian father
What is your name and how old are you?
My name is Alhaji Muhammed Salau aka AJD. I was born on May 18, 1942.
What can you say about your daughter that recently died of electrocution?
Aisha was my last daughter. I had 11 children from three wives. I lost a son on June 12 last year. With Aisha’s death six days ago, (February, 24, 2022), I’m left with nine children.
How did you hear about her death?
I was at home, lying down when I heard people crying outside that Aisha was dead. I thought she was involved in an accident on okada (motorcycle) with her children. I was waiting for someone to come in and tell me what actually happened but no one did. So, I got up and went to her husband’s house. On getting to her husband’s house and entering, I saw her dead body on the floor.
When I asked for what happened to her, I was told that there was a power surge from the transformer and that she went to disconnect an appliance from the power source in the house when she got electrocuted.
How exactly did you feel at that moment, seeing your daughter lying dead?
What would I do? I concluded that it was an act of Allah; if she was destined to die that day, if it didn’t happen through that power surge, it would surely happen some other way. It was God who gave her to me and took her away. She has been buried according to Islamic rites.
How many children did Aisha leave behind?
She left behind three children – two girls and one boy. Her children are here with me.
My wife, son’s survival divine intervention – Banker
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Lawal Muhammed. I am a 41-year-old banker. I live in Makurdi.
How were you affected by the power surge?
That ugly incident that happened around this place last week Thursday (February 24, 2022) affected my son, Ahmad Lawal -Muhammed, who is 13 years old and my wife, Zakiyyat Shagarda, who is 34 years old.
That morning, I sat down, lazing around unlike on a normal day when I would have dressed up and set out for the office. My wife asked me if I was not going to work. I told her I would go. She asked me why I was then sitting down looking distressed. She asked me that question three times. Then I stood up and went to have a bath.
Around 7.50am, I heard a shout from our neighbour; I thought it was one of those little normal incidents that happen in the state, especially in our area close to the river (River Benue). On coming out of the house, I saw people running helter-skelter but nobody was ready to tell what was happening. People were just running for dear lives; it was actually a chaotic situation.
On returning to the sitting room, I discovered my son and his mother on the floor close to the fridge, motionless. I called on them, but there was no response. I moved to my son to pick him up but something just threw me away and landed on the two-seater chair. I attempted again and again to carry my son but I was thrown off each time. It was then it occurred to me that it was an electric shock.
Then, I recalled that two weeks before, our neighbour, a young man living opposite us, was electrocuted while attempting to remove a fuse from the cut-out. I was confused and didn’t know what to do to rescue my wife and son, because the tiles on the floor were shocking, while walking on them with bare feet. Luckily, I wore sandals, so I climbed the chair and switched off the control box.
It was after then that I was able to pick up my son and wife. As I carried my son, I realised that he was already stiff. I thought he was dead. I placed him on the chair and went to pick up the mother. Luckily, as I got inside, my wife stood up from the floor by herself.
What happened thereafter?
Seen that my wife was alive, I rushed out, shouting that my son was dead. A neighbour came with his motorcycle and took us to the hospital. We tried to gag him with a spoon but his mouth was stiff. As we were rushing to hospital, someone suggested I should keep beating him. I did this until we got to the hospital with no sign of life in him. The nurses and other people at the hospital were sympathising with me that I had lost my son.
But surprisingly, by some divine intervention; the boy suddenly breathed out, which attracted the nurses to run to him. They called on the doctor, who asked them to look for a vein and place him on drip immediately. After being placed on drip, he started stretching his body and did this for about 30 minutes before he finally calmed down.
Is it true that a young man was electrocuted in the area, about two weeks earlier?
I heard about the incident. I learnt it was the mother that wanted to remove the fuse when the transformer was sparking but the son was said to have told his mother that she should not stress herself since her hand could not reach the cut-out. I was told that as the young man tried to remove the cut-out he got electrocuted.
JEDC hasn’t given reason for power surge – Bereaved father
What is your name and what do you do for a living?
My name is John Emmanuel. Right now, I am out of job. I was a supervisor at a filing station in Makurdi.
How were you affected by the power surge that happened in this area?
I lost my first child, Vivian Ochanya Emmanuel, to the unfortunate incident. She was 16 years old. She just recently finished from secondary school and was expected to write this year’s UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination).
What exactly happened to her?
On that fateful morning, she had dressed up and was about going to her place of work at Modern Market, when one of her younger ones told her that the fridge was shocking. She went to the fridge and attempted to disconnect it from the socket. It was in the process of doing that she was electrocuted. One of our neighbours quickly went to remove the fuse but the fridge burst into flames and started burning the girl who was on the floor. I rushed to rescue her but I was also shocked. I rushed out and disconnected the cable that connected our building. It was after then that the light went out.
What did you do afterwards?
Immediately, we disconnected the building, I was able to carry my daughter and rushed her to a private hospital where they told us she was dead. But still we proceeded to the Federal Medical Centre at Wadata. However, it was the same thing they told us. Still unrelenting, we took her to St. Theresa Hospital at High Level, Makurdi but they also said she was dead.
Has JED officials visited you after the incident?
Yes, they came a day after the incident and they promised to come back but since then we have not heard from them.
Did the JED officials tell you what caused the power surge?
They didn’t tell us what was responsible for that but the transformer had been giving us problem for some time. I learnt that seven people died as a result of the power surge and several others were injured, some have been discharged while others are still in the hospital.
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