We did not cause Okonkwo’s death, says EEDC

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has washed its hands off the death of one Patrick Okonkwo, who was electrocuted in Nsukka, while working on the Company’s facility. Patrick met his death while relocating EEDC’s electric poles at the ongoing road dualization in Nsukka.

Investigations reveal that the sudden restoration of electricity supply in the area led to his death. But in a statement yesterday, EEDC’s Head of Communications, Emeka Eze said the company should not be blamed over the development, as there was no outage permit from them before the job was embarked upon.

The statement added that the victim was “not a staff of EEDC, neither was he in any way engaged by EEDC. I wish to reaffirm that EEDC is a very safety conscious organisation that abides to all safety measures and procedure in its operations. This incident in Nsukka was an unfortunate one and no fault of ours”.

Meanwhile, the Vee-Tec Nigeria Limited, the contractor that won the relocation contract, has denied engaging the victim. Chairman of the Company, Vita Abba said that though his company won the contract, “we sub-let it to another company and I want to believe that the contractor would know the victim”.