The Cable
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) stipulates a reasonable distance to be maintained before structures are erected close to transmission lines, but in this report, ALFRED OLUFEMI details how residents across different areas in Lagos and the federal capital territory (FCT) continue to flout the rules, defy the authorities, and expose themselves to potential calamity.
In 2016, tragedy struck in Fagbeyiro Abayomi, a quiet street tucked in the densely populated Alakuko area of Lagos state. Barely three weeks after she sat for her final West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Deborah Faleke, 14, left her parent’s house in Alagbado, another part of Lagos, to spend some days with Bukola Ogunbajo, her eldest sister who resides in Fagbeyiro.
While at the Ogunbajos’ residence, Deborah was electrocuted and she gave up the ghost despite frantic efforts to save her life.
On the day of the incident, electricity had just been restored following days of a blackout. Shortly after the power came on, one of the 11kv high tension wires on the pole beside the fence of the house sparked, alarming residents.
“Everyone came out to see what happened. As she came out, the wire fell off and hit her on the head. That was her end,” Matthew Ajeigbe, chairman of Fagbeyiro landlords association, recounted when TheCable visited in early November.
“Very gentle girl…” he muttered under his breath.
Deborah, according to her elder sister, was instantly rushed to a hospital but health workers at the facility rejected her.
“The (health) workers there said they did not have adequate equipment. So she was rushed to a second private hospital where she later died,” Ogunbajo said.
TheCable learned that the aggrieved family subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) — but it was later withdrawn.
Ademola Faleke, the deceased’s father, had in 2017 told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that although IKEDC paid the family an undisclosed amount as compensation, it didn’t wipe off the painful memory.
“It is God’s will and we couldn’t challenge further. We had to inform Falana chambers to withdraw the suit,” said Faleke.
‘Hundreds of lives lost’
According to the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), at least 453 persons were killed in power accidents between 2015 and October 2018.
Beyond electrocution, electric and magnetic fields (EMF) that exist wherever electric current flows in power lines and cables produce adverse health consequences, research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has shown.
The 2007 research says there are established biological effects from acute exposure at high levels, which could cause “nerve and muscle stimulation and changes in nerve cells”.
The WHO said there is epidemiological research indicating an association between prolonged exposure (which can be associated with residential proximity to transmission lines) and increased rates of childhood leukaemia.
Despite these associated risks, Nigerians have continued to conduct businesses and live under or close to power lines in violation of the NERC regulation on right of way (RoW).
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