From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
While trying to recover from the recent electrocution that claimed three lives, the grief-stricken Tumfure community in Gombe metropolis recorded another electricity-related death of a young man.
The agony of Wednesday, April 27, that had been described as sore, started when a high voltage surge from one of the various transformers in the thriving community disrupting the normal flow of electrical power and made metals in buildings and houses in the area active to deadly electrical current.
Andy Abu Yaro, a father of two, and Mrs. Patrick Okeke reportedly died while trying to switch off appliances in their houses to minimize damage, while Mrs. Okeke’s daughter was not fortunate with her rescue mission. Eyewitness accounts had it that the daughter, who rushed to rescue her mother, fell victim to the deadly electric current and died too.
It was also gathered that ,while the three lives were suddenly lost, a few lost valuables to the incident and others sustained injuries.
Usman Ishaku is a member of a five-man committee set up by the community to engage the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) and other state officials to restore normalcy in the community.
According to Ishaku, while the committee had mapped out activities to be carried out the next day, the committee woke up to the news that shook its foundation. He told Daily Sun that the news was the death of the son of the chairman of the committee, who reportedly bid the world goodbye through electrocution.
“Things have not been easy for us the past few days; we are having a very terrible experience of pains. We are just looking up to God for his mercies in this situation. A few days after the first incident and a threat to revenge on officials of the JEDC, the community met and agreed to embark on a peaceful resolution mission between the company and youths in the community.
“Late in the night, after the meeting, where we agreed to meet officials of the company by 11am on Friday, some of us were called and told of the ugly incident. We were told that there was a recurrence of the electric shock, but this time around at the residence of our chairman and he lost his son,” Ishaku told Daily Sun in an interview.
At the scene, Daily Sun gathered from witnesses that the victim rushed to check what was happening to their police dog which was barking during a lightning storm that reportedly powered naked electrical cables and caused a shock that killed the dog and subsequently killed the victim immediately after touching the dog.
To many residents in the area, the incident is one never to be forgotten, as it was seen as an unpleasant and unpalatable disaster. According to Ishaku, it caused emotional and psychological damage not just to the victim’s families but to the entire community.
When contacted for comments and the company’s plans for the community, the JEDC stated that a letter of condolence and a team had been sent to the community. Auwal Baba-Jada, the regional manager and representative of the JEDC in Gombe, assured residents that the company was only after consoling and condoling with the victims’ families and the community.
“When this happened, as a person who is under the management of a company, I took the report and I wrote the management. What we are after now is not the issue of whether it is my fault or someone else’s fault. It’s just to console and condole with the family, because anything that happens when there is a loss of life, you don’t need to apportion blame to anyone. Loss of life is not easy, we don’t have a duplicate for loss of souls, rather than plead and sympathize with these people whose family members have been lost,” he told Daily Sun.
He explained that the company’s failure to visit the community to fix and restore electric power was due to the tension in the area: “You know, it’s not easy to lose three people on one street and you go there. What will you tell them? Even, we have to seek the cover of the police before we stay in the office. We had to station a vehicle there, at the main office in Tumfure, for them to guard the office so that nobody should cause more casualties. So, it’s not that we did it deliberately,” he said.
However, the prompt visit to the scene by the state governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, to sympathise with the community and the bereaved families was described as a solidarity anyone can hope to have, especially in such a trying moment.
The governor led a team of officials to the scene of the incident where he commiserated with the affected families and urged them to see the incident as an act of God.
He said: “On behalf of the government and people of Gombe State, I extend our sincere commiserations with all those who have lost loved ones; we will ensure that there is no repeat of this kind of unfortunate incident in the state.”
Yahaya, who donated cash to the victim families, directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide relief materials to the grieving families as he also called for calm among residents in the community.
He said: “At the level of government, I assure you that we shall take adequate measures to prevent such from happening and we shall equally seek justice for the victims.”
Speaking on behalf of the families, an elder brother to the deceased Andy Abu Yaro, Mr. Yusuf Abu, thanked the governor for the visit and the cash donation. However, he appealed to the governor to prevail on the JEDC to improve its services so as to prevent a recurrence.
Also, Pastor Solomon Ayanwale thanked the governor for what he called a display of leadership at a time when the followers were in need of one.