Teenage Cable Vandal Survives Electrocution, Lynching

16-year-old Terseer Iorparegh was yesterday caught stuck in a high tension cable while attempting to vandalize the PHCN cable along Naka road in Makurdi.

According to Senior Special Assistant to Governor Gabriel Suswam on Public Utilities, Mr. Gaddafi Asemanya who was at the scene, residents of the area were woken up by shout of help from the young man around 2.am on Thursday only to find him hanging between the high tension cable after he had suffered shock and first degree burns

Asemanya said the teenager who had removed the lower cable climbed the PHCN pole to vandalize the upper cable when his leg touched a line which caused a spark and fire which spread over his body while he persistently shouted for help.

“Vandalism of PHCN property has become a serious issue in Benue State, in the last one year. I have apprehended over 30 vandals, while some were prosecuted many of these persons were set free because PHCH has no legal team to ensure the prosecution of these suspects”, Asemanya said.

He explained that the residents had wanted to lynch the vandal but for his quick intervention and assistance by men of the fire service, the police and officers and men of the civil defence corps who were on hand to assist saved the vandal from the angry residents.

Asemanya further disclosed that the suspect was receiving medical attention at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi where he lied critically ill with no one coming to identify him.

PHCN spokesman, Uche Oranya while reacting on the issue appreciated the prompt action of the residents of the area, as well as that of the governor’s aide, and called on security operatives to ensure adequate safeguard of PHCN facilities in the state.

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How apprentice, 25, got electrocuted

It was a tragic end for an apprentice electrician in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, Mr Bola Ige. He fell off an electric pole after he was electrocuted while trying to rectify an electrical fault.

Daily Sun learnt that Ige’s boss was contacted for a repair work. The deceased volunteered to assist his boss at House number 10, behind Oba Tejuosho’s house, in the Government Reservation Area, Ibara, Abeokuta. His boss, Sina, denied sending Ige to climb electric pole but, “to identify and rectify only minor faults in his customer’s residence.”

He said he only sent him to fix minor electrical faults in his customer’s residence when he was called upon for an electrical fault in the house: “The person who lives in that compound is my customer. I have been fixing his engineering works for long.”

Wailing, Sina said: “It is sad and very painful to hear that my boy died after climbing a pole to carry out a repair work. I did not send him to climb the pole through which he later died. It is a sad thing.”

Sympathizers including the deceased’s mother wept like babies as Ige bled and foamed from the eyes, nose, ears and mouth. His body was eventually removed by the police who arrived the scene from the state Rapid Response Squad in a pick – up van with registration number PF 5385OG Toyota Hilux.

Ige’s mother who openly wept as she watched the lifeless body of her son refused to be consoled: “I am finished, my hope is dashed. I never dreamt or prayed that I would bury a child in my life. This is a terrible blow on me and my family. I will nurse this big wound till the rest of my life.”

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