by Oge Okonkwo

In a cruel twist of fate, a woman and her family have been thrown into mourning over the death of the breadwinner of the family who died while carrying out his duty in his newly secured job.

Badmus Kabiru Olaiya, 44, was said to have secured a new job at the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Ikotun Business Unit but his joy was short-lived as he was electrocuted on his first assignment.

According to reports, Olaiya was asked to rectify an electrical problem  which had caused a blackout at Abiola Adeyemi Street, Ikotun area of Lagos on Wednesday, March 26, but it turned out to be a fatal assignment.

Reports say:

In the evening , around 4:00 pm, three officials from IKEDC brought a ladder. The man holding the ladder was the one who was supposed to climb the pole but as fate would have it, Kabiru climbed it. The officials quickly called for a photographer to snap him.

The man dressed properly, he belted himself to the pole but was not putting on hand gloves. As the photographer took his pictures, the light was restored and there was a big bang.

“The man was not totally electrocuted at that stage but he was half dead with  smoke was coming out of his shirt. May be the people that resume duty are not aware that a repair was going on, they restored supply to the area, Kabiru was caught in a hail of fire. He was rescued and rushed to the hospital and he died on Friday morning”.

Kabiru aged 44 years before he died was survived by a pregnant wife, children and relatives. He was buried on Monday March 31st, 2014 at his residence Oyedeji B/stop, close to Canaan Land, Ota, Ogun State, southwest Nigeria.

Another resident, Mr. Abdul said: “We were all praying for him to survive the incident. At least, we all thanked God initially that he was not holding the high tension that was why he did not die instantly. But eventually, we lost him. Most tragically, he left a pregnant wife and children. It was really a pathetic story”.

Ikeja DISCO staff electrocuted on first duty; leaves pregnant wife