The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company has set up a six-man investigative team to unravel the immediate and remote causes of electrocution of two persons in Angwan Biri in Niger State.
Ahmed Shekarau, AEDC’s Head, Public Relations and Media, said in a statement on Tuesday that the accident occurred on July 29.
Shekarau said the preliminary report on the incident revealed that the binding wire of an 11Kv line got loose due to a windy condition and came into contact with the 415V red phase cable.
This, Shekarau said, resulted in high voltage that was alleged to have caused the unfortunate death of two people, while four others sustained injuries.
He said that the panel had the mandate to establish the root causes of the incident.
According to Shekarau, the panel has two weeks to submit its report.
The Director, Risk and Compliance of AEDC, Collins Chabuka, said insinuation that 49 houses were affected in the incident was false.
He advised the public and the media to be cautious of fake information.
Chabuka said the decision of the company to set up a probe was part of its internal incident reporting, investigation procedure guidelines and industry best practice.
He said: “It is AEDC’s internal health and safety policy requirements that all accidents are investigated by independent internal persons with extensive industry background, competence and knowledge.”
He said that the purpose of the investigation was to highlight the shortcomings that might have led to the incident and recommend remedial measures to prevent a recurrence.
Chabuka described the incident as most unfortunate, adding that the company had complied with regulatory requirements by officially notifying the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency of the accident.
The AEDC director, who commiserated with the family of the deceased and other members of the Angwan Biri community, also expressed AEDC’s sympathy to the injured persons.
According to him, AEDC is taking over the treatment of one of the victims who is still receiving treatment in the hospital, following the discharge of other three affected ersons.
The panel is being chaired by Mohammed Sule, a Nigerian Electricity Industry professional with over 26 years of experience in Distribution Network Operations, Maintenance and Protection System.
AEDC had constituted similar panels to unravel the remote causes of electrical accidents in Nyanya, Mapape, among others in its franchise areas where it had experienced electrical accidents.