A middle-aged-man whose identity is yet to be ascertained was electrocuted in Abakaliki on Tuesday, according to an eye-witness.
The eye witness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abakaliki that the incident occurred along the Abakaliki/Enugu highway about 12:00 noon.
The witness, who identified himself as Mr Silas Nwakpu, said that the victim was a labourer who was digging a channel for an underground cable for one of the mobile telecommunication companies.
According to him, the deceased climbed a tree to cut some leaves to cover his water container from heat, but the cutlass used by the deceased allegedly came in contact with the tree branches lying on a high-tension cable.
“The man is one of the daily paid labourers engaged by one of the mobile telecommunication companies laying underground cable in Abakaliki.
“He climbed the tree to cut some of its leaves to cover his container of water, but unknown to him some of the branches were touching the high-tension wire close to the tree.
“The man was electrocuted. His corpse has been deposited at a hospital mortuary,” Nwakpu said.
When contacted, Mrs Loveth Odah, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Abakaliki, confirmed the incident, but added that her office was yet to receive an official report of the incident.
“I got a phone call on this ugly incident, but before I could get there, the road safety officials had evacuated the corpse and deposited it at the mortuary.
“For now, my office is yet to be officially briefed on the matter, it is a very sad and unfortunate incident that the man has to be electrocuted,” Odah said. (NAN)