Panel blames disco for UNILAG student’s electrocution

Warns against unprofessional practices
A panel raised by the Federal Government to investigate the cause of electrocution of a student of University of Lagos, Miss Juliana Oluchi Anekwe, has blamed the accident on alleged negligence by the electricity distribution company.

Briefing journalists in Lagos at the weekend, Peter Ewesor, chairman of the panel on the death of the 300-level undergraduate, accused the utility companies of using substandard materials, indulgence in unprofessional practices, negligence and poor response to inherent problems in their networks. He warned the distribution companies against engaging in unprofessional practices which may lead to electrocution.

He said the 11kv feeder line which passes through the university was in a state of almost total disrepair, with so many joints. “After the investigation of the student’s death, we have issued instructions to the respective DISCOS that were concerned, that they should ensure they repair and revamp this particular network and that they should use the experience as a guide to all other 11kv network or 33kv network to ensure that what happened here is prevented elsewhere,” Ewesor stressed.

He said the rising spate of electrical accidents and electrocutions in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) as well as poor supply to consumers are unacceptable, condemnable and reproachable.

Ewesor cited the UNILAG’s incident and the death of a 15-year-old pupil, Afusat Musa, in a mosque on Ishaga Road, Idi-Araba in Lagos as some of the cases that made the press briefing imperative, to sensitise the distribution companies and the public to the need for extra safety consciousness.

“Undoubtedly, the two promising young girls lost their lives on account of electrocution from bad networks and unprofessional practices in the industry. From records available, the electrocution occurred as a result of poor state of the distribution companies’ network and negligence on the part of the distribution company in charge of the areas where the incidents occurred,” Ewesor explained.

Ewesor, who is the Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), cited, as one of the causes of the UNILAG student’s death, “unstranded conductor with continuous arcing at the open joints/kinks which eventually melted, snapped and dropped directly on Anekwe at the instant she was at the spot.” He blamed the accident on “negligence on the part of the Disco as the arcing situation had existed overtime without being attended to.

“The protection schemes and devices in the network were in a state of disrepair and thus failed to respond appropriately for prompt isolation of the line when it snapped and fell on the victim and to the ground,” he added.

He said in view of the increasing human traffic at the University of Lagos, his agency has directed that the overhead Oniken 11KV Feeder line should no longer be used in its present status but should be re-routed underground to avoid future incidents.

“Discos should note that appropriate enforcement orders and possible sanctions will be meted out for non-compliance with the recommendations of all previous and future monitoring reports sent to them by NEMSA field electrical inspectors nationwide,” Ewesor added.