A middle-aged man identified simply as Edward has lost his life while attempting to reconnect an electricity cable to a pole at Kajola community in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
It was learnt that the incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. on October 3.
It was gathered that Edward, who was not an official of any power distribution company but was known in the community for assisting people with minor electrical jobs, was engaged by a resident to help reconnect power to an apartment in the area.
Tragedy, however, struck when power was reportedly restored while he was reconnecting the cable.
A resident in the area who spoke to PUNCH Metro on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity while citing privacy, said Edward’s lifeless body was later found at the spot by other residents in the community.
The resident said, “Someone who lives close to the apartment at Kosedo in the Kajola area, where he died, asked him to help reconnect their light. He came that morning and collected money to rent a ladder. They left him there, hoping he would have completed the re-connection before they returned.
“It was later in the evening that people became worried about his whereabouts. When they got to the point where he was working, his body was found lying motionless on the ground. It was believed that he was electrocuted when electricity was restored to the area around 1:30 p.m.”
It was gathered that efforts to resuscitate him on the spot were futile, while his remains were later taken to the morgue.
A picture of the incident obtained by our correspondent showed the victim lying face down beneath the pole where he had been working.
Another source, who identified himself simply as Sorinmade, said on Wednesday that the development led to the arrest of the tenant who had engaged the deceased.
He said, “The person who engaged him and some other tenants in the house was all arrested after the incident. It really caused a lot of issues. They also had to part with a huge amount of money before they were granted bail.
“Edward was someone who went about assisting people for one work or another. He also did not have any family in the community. It was not too long after that his corpse was taken to his hometown for burial,” the source added.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, did not pick up calls made to her telephone lines when reached for comment. A text message sent to her had yet to be replied to as of the time of filing this report.
The development comes amid frequent cases of electrocution and power-related accidents due to unregulated electrical connections and the activities of untrained persons.
PUNCH Metro reported in August that a 45-year-old electrician was electrocuted while attempting to reconnect power cables to a pole in the Shasha area of Lagos State.
Credit: punchng.com
