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n the 23rd of September, 2014, a young girl of less than 13 years was electrocuted behind the Department of computer science, university of Ibadan. She died instantly. It was 11KV of electricity. Hardly anyone could have survived that. So, she died.
They said she was not a student. Yes, she wasn’t. She was one of those girls & boys you purchase groundnut from every now and then. But she died.
Barely out of primary school, she was staying with a guardian in Ibadan while her parents are in Lagos. Hawking groundnut to generate some income while awaiting resumption from the extended vacation mandated by the federal government due to the Ebola-outbreak issue. She died.
Drained of almost all liquid in her and spewing foam and blood from every orifice while convulsing spasmodically as she breathed her last. She died horribly.
God rest her soul. She was so young. God help her parents. They were so devastated.God help her guardian. She is still not herself.God help her friends and fellow child-hawkers. They ran, crazily. They just couldn’t bear it. God help all the witnesses, it is a sight nobody ever prays to behold even once. They watched her die.
She was there, helpless from the forceful hug of electrical force, and no one could touch her, not with the drizzling rain all around. They had no choice but just to watch her die. Until she died.
She never intended to die. She just slipped and fell in rain. Fell right of the exposed high voltage wire, conveniently uncovered by the Department of works and maintenance. Her groundnut tray flew as she fell, and less than 2 minutes later, she was dead. Dead, dead, dead.She died.
Exposed wires all around the university campus is a phenomenon we have all gotten used to. Talk about getting used to messengers of death. We see them everywhere. Faculties, departments, halls of residence, gardens, roads, drainages, everywhere and anywhere. And yet, we are not taking positive and aggressive action against them. As to the wire that killed the girl, it had been reported to the department of works and maintenance by the department of computer science numerous times to no avail. They keep saying they have no equipment and materials to repair it. Then the girl died at about 4pm on Tuesday, they got to know at about 7pm on Tuesday evening. By 6.30 am on Wednesday morning, they were already repairing the wire’s trench. So, how did they get their required materials so quickly? Overnight? Just think about it.
This is what I’m trying to tell you. Be vigilant; watch out for any exposed wire. In fact, watch for any potentially dangerous infrastructural anomaly near you and make sure you file a report with the department of works and maintenance. Make sure you do it three good times and keep copies of your reports as evidence. Then when nothing is done about it, go to the Student union executives and agitate for it. Then we can easily determine whether the works and maintenance staff are guilty of irresponsibility and gross negligence or whether our students union is made up of a bunch of quick-to-talk & inactive fellows. This is the time to take things personal. I know I might sound very brash to you. But if you had been there, if you had watched her die, you will be brasher.
That girl could have been you. She could have been me. She could have been you. She could have been your best friend. She could have been your lecturer. She could have been anybody. Nobody deserves to die, not that way. So, watch out for the death-traps! Okemakinde Samson K.
