Job Osazuwa
A victim of electrocution has got a financial lifeline from members of the Festac Town Residents’ Association (FTRA) in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The victim, Rufus Oyekunle, a staff of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), was on official duty on July 1, 2020, and was working on a faulty transformer in Festac Town, when he was electrocuted.
His left hand has already been amputated following the injuries he suffered, while the right hand is apparently incapacitated as he was seen on his hospital bed struggling to move the hand.
The president of FTRA, Shola Fakorede, while presenting the N750,000 cheque to the injured official at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, said the incident happened when the patient was rectifying a fault in a transformer that threw the community into darkness and, therefore, should not be abandoned in his travails.
He explained that the community was not only known for demonstrating against abnormality by the power distribution company, as it has done in the past, but also plays its part in encouraging the staffers, who have diligently served the area.
“We have come here to pay a visit and to show that we care. The money we are giving him is to support his medical bills. This is with the understanding that he might have spent a lot going from one hospital to another. This is a token of our appreciation of his service to our community and to cushion the effects of what he and his family have been passing through since July.
“This is a matter of life and death. Members of our community just had to come together to raise the money as one of the ways to empathize with him. Another reason we are doing this is to spur others to be their brother’s keeper, especially in situations like this,” he said.
Fakorede described Oyekunle as a hardworking staff who never hesitated whenever any member of the community called on him to clear any electrical fault. He said that it was proper for the residents to reciprocate the gesture.
He stressed that: “Oyekunle stands out among his colleagues in terms of prompt response whenever we were in need. We also learnt that he had already rectified the particular fault on that fateful day. But we can’t say exactly what then led to the incident. This is why we, as an association and responsible citizens, have to encourage him. Thank God that he is still alive. When there is life, there is hope.”
Bedridden in the Ophthalmology, Burns and Plastic wards, the victim, in company with his wife, appreciated his benefactors for the donation and prayed for God to reward them.
Fakorede tasked other residents’ associations, organisations and individuals to cultivate the habit of giving support to those in need, particularly in trying times. He prayed for the speedy recovery of Oyekunle so that he could be discharged from the hospital and be reunited with his family.