Man Electrocuted While Fixing Election Campaign Banner On Electric Pole [Photo]

When supporter is more loyal than the founder of the party, something like this is bound to happen. On that faithful day, tragedy hit the campaign team of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Oriade Local Council Development Area of Lagos State last weekend following the electrocution of one of the party faithfuls, Mr Ishola Raji. Raji while fixing a campaign banner on an electric pole at Kirikiri town.

Raji, anhe Okada unionist woke up on that fateful day with the intention to do more for himself, family and his preferred candidate in the political contest, little did he know that death was lurking in the corner. While the monthly environmental sanitation exercise was going on at about 8am, the deceased and other APC supporters siezed the opportunity to place the campaign banner of one of the aspirants for the office of Council Chairman across the road at Mangbesa junction. After succeeding in tying one end of the banner, they decided to tie the other end of the rope, using an aluminum ladder on the concrete pole.

Investigations revealed that the first two people who climbed the ladder to tie the rope jumped down due to fear. It was Raji who summoned the courage without the premonition that he was embarking on a vjourney of no return. According to an eyewitness, when the victim, popularly known as Alfa climbed the ladder, his body touched an electric cable which resulted in a serious spark that threw him off the pole, smash gainst a nearby roof, before he eventually landed on the ground. He was said to have sustained injuries on his forehead, while he foamed in the mouth.

While he struggled with death, some of the on-lookers, including his co-party faithful fled the scene for fear of being affected by the shock. Later, they summoned courage and reappeared to revive him. A member of Owode –Ijere Youth Forum in Kirikiri town, Mr Monday Ebofose who witnessed the incident described it as a tragedy that could have been avoided.

Also, Chairperson of Kirikiri Landlords Association, Mrs Toju Onyeanwuna, in her reaction said what happened was painful and terrible. “What happened to the man was terrible and pathetic. We have been trying our best to educate people on the danger of electricity and climbing the poles, especially those who do not know anything about electricity. Yet, many of them refused to listen. Today, what we have been telling them about has come to reality. Though the transformer in question has been down for some time, but any literate person will know that there is always power in the high tension cables. I do not know what the APC supporters were doing with high tension pole. Must they ask their members to put banner on the high tension pole? In fact, what happened is an eye opener.”

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