BEDC worker electrocuted while fixing faulty utility pole

An employee of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Mr Daisi Isaac Aregbesola, aged 38, was electrocuted in Akure, Alagbaka area of Ondo State yesterday when trying to fix a faulty public utility pole.

The incident, which happened around 5 p.m. attracted some passersby, mostly motorists, who tried in vain to save the life of Aregbesola, as his body was dangling lifelessly between the high tension cables.

The Guardian gathered that the deceased resumed for work as early as possible but his boss instructed him to rectify a fault on an electric pole at the front of the Zenith Bank in Alagbaka. The deceased, fondly called ‘Sapee’ by his colleagues and friends, until his death served as an electrical engineer and a contract staff worker with the BEDC.

An eyewitness revealed that sympathisers were attracted to the scene as a result of the loud scream of passersby when the late worker received a shock from the high-tension wire while performing his duty.

“I had barely walked pass him when I heard a very loud noise and saw him dangling on the pole. It was an unfortunate scene to behold as people rushed down to the ladder to bring the man down from the pole. In fact, it took the BEDC almost an hour to arrive at the scene after the man had died and his body already brought down from the pole by sympathisers,” he said.

A source in the electricity firm said the victim was working on the feeder due to some faults detected on the high-tension wires that caused a power outage in the area.

The estranged wife of the deceased, Funke Adeniyi, also confirmed the incident in a phone chat with journalists in Akure, lamenting that the circumstances surrounding his death were questionable. Adeniyi said her husband was rushed to the Ondo State Specialists Hospital Akure but was confirmed dead on arrival by doctors.

“Workers in his office told us that a boss sent him a message to work on the high tension cables due to some fault on the poles. I asked them why did they switch on the light (electricity) when they knew my husband was working on the pole. I am smelling a conspiracy.”

Several efforts to reach the BEDC and get the reactions of top management workers proved abortive, as calls made to them were unsuccessful yesterday.