It was nightmarish for Mrs. Helen Izekor, wife of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Staff, Augustine Izekor, who was electrocuted last Thursday, at Evbodia community in Oredo Local Council of Edo State.
The woman, who has been a shadow of herself since the news of her husband’s death filters, could not hold her tears yesterday, when she muttered: “Where will I start from? Who will I run to? This is the end of my life! I am finished!”
Narrating her ordeal, the widow recalled how Izekor called to inform her in the afternoon that he would soon be at home, and how she rushed to the kitchen to prepare food, eagerly awaiting his arrival. She said: “Seconds turned to minutes and then hours but there was no sign of him coming home.
“I called him several times because he doesn’t stay out late. He didn’t answer his calls and I managed to go to bed, trying hard to force myself to sleep, but it didn’t just work.
“In the morning of Friday, I was called by my pastor’s wife that we have a place to visit. I got dressed and followed her, only to be informed at the terminus that my husband was dead. I want my husband back.”
It was gathered that Izekor embarked on an operation to restore electricity to Evbodia community when one of his colleagues reportedly called the control room for power outage as work was in progress only for another member of the team to place a counter call to the same control room for power to be restored, while he was still working with his tools: spanner, screw driver, plier and others, a development which turned out to be his undoing.
The Guardian further gathered that, as soon as Izekor was knocked down, some of his colleagues reportedly fled the scene, without informing the management or rushing the victim to the hospital for immediate medications, thereby raising suspicions about his death.
However, after some time, one of them went back to the scene to find the deceased battling for life. He and some sympathisers rushed him to Faith Mediplex Hospital, Benin City.
One of the matrons on duty when Izekor was brought to the Faith Mediplex Hospital said: “We were here when the man was brought alive at about 4:00p.m. He was alleged to have been electrocuted. We immediately attended to him and ensured that the proper emergency steps were taken.
“We tried our best till he gave up at about 11:00p.m. in the presence of his sister,” she said. Lamenting his death, one of his daughters said her late father always complained that a colleague was not happy with him in the office.
“When I asked him what the problem was, he said the man threatened that my father, who was new in the station, couldn’t be their head. My father was in the midst of colleagues who wanted him to die. They should bring him back alive,” she lamented.
One of the deceased’s sisters, who simply gave her name as Uyimwen said: “I received a call from him that he had an accident and that I should come to Faith Mediplex Hospital. When I arrived there at about 7:00p.m., he was trying to respond to treatment, but he complained that the bed where he laid was uncomfortable for him.
“Then, we moved him to a separate bed and the doctor we called came and fixed oxygen on him and the nurse tried to get a sample of his blood. Nothing came out from him. But shortly, he became aggressive and removed the oxygen, and was curtailed by the doctor on duty.
“As soon as he calmed down, he was looking in a direction, and that was when the doctor on duty ran a check and declared my brother lifeless,” she lamented.
The Guardian gathered that when the family went to the BEDC office at Etete, where he served a few months before his death, overzealous security men at the entrance quickly locked the gate. This, however, infuriated his friends and family members, but a management staff of BEDC came to calm the situation.
When contacted, spokesperson for BEDC, Mrs. Evelyn Gbiwon, confirmed the incident. She said: “We heard about his death this morning and we are trying to gather information about the circumstances that led to his death.”
Meanwhile, The Guardian gathered that those who went on the operations with the deceased have been arrested, but are yet to get their responses regarding their involvement in the operation.
“However, we shall be relating with the family members as events unfold. Our condolences to the family and friends are genuine,” he added.
