By Abimbola Ogunnaike
A mother and her child and one other person were reportedly electrocuted at Mowe Market in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The incident, it was gathered happened on Monday, 22 April, 2024 following the restoration of power after Sunday, 21 April, 2024, downpour.
The Chairman of the Local Government, Ambassador Adesina Ogunsola, during his visit to the market on Wednesday, 24 April, 2024, gave a seven-day notice to all the traders with shops and stalls under the high-tension powerline to vacate to forestall the recurrence of the tragic incident.
An eyewitness said that the electric shock was from the step-down transformer suspended on an electrical pole next to the shop where the incident happened, just as the shop owners arrived for their daily sales in the market.
The woman and her son were said to have been burnt beyond recognition.
The Director of Information at the Obafemi Owode Local Government, Segun Soneye, confirmed the sad development in a statement issued on Thursday, 25 April, 2024.
Soneye, in a statement, blamed the incident on the erection of shops made of iron under the powerline by the traders.
“The chairman of the council had visited the affected shop owners and commiserated with them over the incident.
“The LG boss has already given shop owners a seven-day ultimatum to evacuate their make-shift shops built under the high tension powerline to forestall the recurrence of the incident,” Soneye said.
Speaking during his visit to the market, Ogunsola who commiserated with the families of the victims, also blamed the incident on the nonchalant attitude of the traders.
The LG boss wondered why people would disregard safety rules and have their shops close to electrical poles that carry step-down transformers.
Ogunsola, while giving the vacation order to the traders with shops and stalls under the powerline, said, “Let me also say that everyone that has extended its shop beyond where it should be, particularly those under high-tension cables should start removing it from today.”
The police spokesman, Omolola Odutola, also confirmed the incident but said only the mother, Ujuwa Okechukwu, died from the incident.
