.PHEDC warns against trading, living under high tension wire

The Nigeria Electricity Management Service Agency (NEMSA) has attributed an incident of electrocution, which happened in Calabar, Cross River State, to poor maintenance of power infrastructure.

The incident, which occurred at about 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, almost took the lives of some persons, after a high-tension cable snapped and fell on a car, causing huge sparks that left people scampering for dear life.

The Guardian learnt that residents tried to rescue the car from going up in flames but were electrocuted in the process and suffered some degrees of burns.

Managing Director of NEMSA, Aliyu Tahir, described the incident as unfortunate.

He spoke during his organisation’s visit to the scene of the incident, along Chamley Street in Calabar South Local Council.

The visit was in collaboration with the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC).

The organisations also visited victims with different degrees of burns at the General Hospital, Calabar, promising to offset their medical bills.

Tahir, who doubles as Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, noted that if the utility company had carried out due maintenance of its power infrastructure, such an incident wouldn’t have occurred.

“These networks in Calabar South are some of the oldest networks, and there is urgent need for rehabilitation. This will be one of our directives to the utility company to ensure that these networks are rehabilitated soon.

“There are a lot of defective areas along the network that we have seen in the community. This needs to be looked into to prevent recurrence,” he said.

On his part, Regional Manager PHEDC, Gabriel Modupe, said the incident happened as a result of two wires touching each other, when one of them was moved by a tree close to the pole.

Modupe, however, said the challenge became worse as a result of buildings under high-tension wires in the area.

“While we assure the victims that we will take care of the hospital bills, we also use this medium to appeal to them to stay away from buildings under high-tension wires because of the risks of electrocution whenever there is an accident,” he said.

Speaking during the organisations’ visit to the community, the clan head of Efut Abua West in Calabar South, Mari Joseph Effiong-Edem, said it was unfortunate that such an incident happened amid the current economic situation in the nation. He, however, thanked God that no life was lost.

Effiong-Edem appealed to PHEDC to change the cables in the community, noting that most had been there for many years and had become very weak.

He recalled that a similar incident happened in the Nyanasang area of Calabar in 2017 when people lost their lives while watching a football match in a viewing centre.

Meanwhile, PHEDC has warned customers in its franchise area to desist from trading, building, or residing under high-tension lines.

The distribution company, in a statement by its Head, Corporate Communications, Olubukola Ilevbare, said the warning was necessary following an alarming surge in indiscriminate activities observed in areas marked highly unsafe for human and business activities due to radiation, drop, or wire snap, and humming.