•Abakaliki, state capital, in darkness as residents express concerns over naked wires littering streets
From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
The much-celebrated short frame streetlights installed by the immediate past administration in Ebonyi State, led by Chief David Nweze Umahi, are reportedly turning into agents of death. The wires connecting the destroyed, vandalized or spoilt bulbs are posing threats to many residents of Abakaliki who ply the pedestrian paths daily.
At installation, the facilities were greeted with some level of admiration in some quarters and equally criticized by others who described them as a cosmetic project. Many of the facilities have been damaged or stolen, leaving residents at the mercy of possible electrocution and injuries.
The affected places include Onuebonyi Junction, Presco Junction, Vanco Junction, Union Bank roundabout, Old Government House roundabout, Udensi roundabout, Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium junction, Pastoral Centre junction, Akanu Ibiam roundabout, Sen. Offia Nwali roundabout, Ogoja Road, Afikpo Road and Ezza Road. It was gathered that some of the wires lying across the roads as if they were intentionally spread to cause havoc had on several occasions injured pedestrians.
A petty trader at Vanco Junction, Mrs. Jacinta Eze, told Daily Sun that she was always afraid to send her children on errands around the junction and its environs following the grave consequences posed by the naked wires that litter the area. She, therefore, appealed for the intervention of the State Ministry of Power and Energy and Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) over the situation.
Another resident, Mrs. Ifeoma Udeze, said that one of the wires had entangled her leg recently but due to the quick assistance of some passersby she was rescued with a mild injury.
“On the particular day, I was heading to church without envisaging any misfortune but, suddenly, I mistakenly put my leg under a wire that lay across the road.
“Though I sustained mild bruises on my toes, it did not bother me as much as the fear and shock that covered me immediately. I thought about what would have become my fate, if the same wire was live at that time,” she said.
A businessman, Mr. Chizoba Ogbaga, accused the past government of being insensitive to people’s suffering by installing such a project, which, according him, does not have serious impact on the lives of the citizenry. He suggested that the present leadership of Ebonyi State should do the needful by revitalizing the lights or removing the life-threatening wires before they cause more havoc.
He further disclosed that a woman had lost her life in similar circumstances in the CAS axis of the state sometime ago as a result of the alleged neglect of the power ministry and other relevant organisations.
“During that period, the woman who was a close relative of a senior police officer went out in search of water, if I am not mistaken, in one of the streets before Ebonyi State University, Law Faculty, but, unfortunately, she stepped on a naked live wire and that was how she died on the spot.
“In spite of the ugly incident that claimed the life of the young woman some years back, still the government has not learnt how to take precautionary measures in the matter involving exposed naked wires on the streets. I thank God that the media men are making efforts to draw the leaders’ attention to the problem,” he said.
Similarly, the case of malfunctional traffic lights in Abakaliki is also a cause for concern as motorists and other road users have been kept in the dark over how the facility could be made stable since its inception.
A commercial vehicle driver, Mr. John Mba, said that the government’s pranks on the traffic lights started with the administration led by Chief Martin Elechi, where the officials put the facility into use only when they were expecting some dignitaries, perhaps from Abuja or elsewhere. According him, the same thing was observed during the immediate past government.
“The traffic lights in Ebonyi State have been a camouflage because, since installation, they have not been functioning for two months consecutively. Surprisingly, government officials have not done anything about it,” he said.
A commercial motorcycle operator, Mr. Uchendu Ugwuegwu, said that the traffic lights, when they were working, contributed in road accident reduction in the town and, on that note, he requested for its restoration for speed control.
In another development, a resident of Ugwuachara, a suburb of Abakaliki, Dr. Virginia Nwesor, frowned at the sudden stoppage of the streetlights in some parts of the town, which, according to her, had been boosting nightlife, till the end of the Umahi administration.
She queried the failure of the new government to sustain the facility, being one of the dividends of leadership that the common citizens, mostly petty traders, benefit from.
“The streets lights, which had provided many persons with business opportunities in the town, including banana sellers, suya sellers and others at Spera In-Deo and across other parts of town, have suddenly stopped without any known reason. We are appealing for its resuscitation, as it helps in crime control, too,” she said.
A university teacher who pleaded anonymity alleged that the rate of vandalism involving electrical cables that affected Ishieke Junction to the permanent site of Ebonyi State University (EBSU) was the handwork of some mischievous professionals in the system owing to the fact that the wires were skilfully removed in a manner that the debris of the electrical materials could not be found in any spot.
“At times, these thieves usually go for their operations with government vehicles mainly to give the impression that they are into a legitimate job,” he added
He also claimed that other areas between Nkalagu in Ishielu LGA of the state and Idodo in Nkanu East, Enugu State, are not excluded from the menace as the cables had been stolen, while many electric poles were equally damaged. He thereby appealed that the government should stop being wasteful by adopting an approach to guard its facilities jealously.
Sometime ago, the negligence of the State Ministry of Power and Energy led to the electrocution of Mrs. Joy Osuchukwu.
The incident caused a running battle between her family, represented by a rights lawyer, Nwugo C. Nwugo, and the Ebonyi State Government.
Nwugo, in a petition to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), dated November 30, 2017, said that at about 7:30pm on October 26, 2017, Mrs. Osuchukwu was electrocuted on the pedestrian walkway in front of Udoka Hall, along Waterworks Road, Abakaliki.
He regretted that the letter to the State Police Command to investigate the incident was ignored while those behind the ugly incident of the untimely and avoidable death of Mrs. Osuchukwu, a widow and mother of three, “occasioned by the criminal negligence and professional indolence of the staff of the Ministry of Power and Energy in charge of installation of streetlights in the Abakaliki metropolis”, remained unpunished.
“Unfortunately, no positive steps have been taken so far by the Ebonyi State Police Command to our knowledge to initiate action by way of investigation of the incident aimed at bringing those negligent and indolent staff of the Ministry of Power and Energy State Police Command to our knowledge to initiate action by way of investigation of the incident aimed at bringing those negligent and indolent staff of the Ministry of Power and Energy who worked at the site of the incident but failed or neglected to cover the insulated cable thereat to book to serve as a deterrent and to forestall further occurrence anywhere in the metropolis,” Nwugo said.
Efforts to get the commissioner for power and energy, Peter Ogeali, to speak on the issue were not successful as he was not in the office when our reporter visited.
On her part, the public relations officer of the ministry, Mrs. Franca Nworie, vehemently refused to release the commissioner’s phone number due to reasons best known to her.