Ibadan Electricity Distribution Commission (IBEDC) Chief Operating Officer, Mr John Ayodele, has said activities of vandals tampering the Disco’s facility are preventing it from tending customers’ needs.
He also condemned the building of houses, shops and relaxation spots under power lines, bypassing of meters by 70 per cent of Nigerians, saying that prosecuting all defaulters in the law courts will make the courts treat electricity defaulters’ cases alone at the expense of other critical issues.
According to the Vanguard, Ayodele spoke in Ibadan at the stakeholders’ engagement and press parley to mark the commencement of safety week of the IBEDC and the World Safety and Health at Workday under the theme: “Safety and Health and The Future of Work”.
He said people must be aware of the dangers of living under power lines and breaching electricity cables to them and their family, adding that it is sad that most Nigerians willingly like to break the law than adhere to them.
“Safety is a factor in life and people must know this. We are dealing with people’s lives and we must provide safety for them.
“The power lines range from 11,000 volts to 33,000 to 333,000 volts and the key issue is that if you live under high tension wire, you are living under a death threat, which is as good as staying in Kirikiri awaiting the noose of the hangman and people who sleep and find it convenient under such lines to do trade should know that it’s dangerous and they should desist from it,” he asserted.
He attributed the practice of lawlessness of most Nigerians to the loss of value system in the country, praising officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for being helpful at protecting some of their equipment across its five zones of operations.
He said they are in various strategic discussions with different stakeholders on how to curb the destruction of their properties and are ready to heighten protection.
The COO said the safety discussion is not for customers alone but also for staff as he said everybody must be safety conscious while working on the electricity poles, as the management has realized that staff also fail to follow isolation rules while on duty which most times cause fatal accidents.
The Chief Technical Officer, IBEDC Ade Ayileka, appeals to people to be calm and report any electrical issue to the nearest IBEDC office instead of engaging local electricians that will expose the whole community to risks due to illegal connection and tampering of the cables which their knowledge can’t afford them to understand.
The facilitator of the event, Ampak Nigeria limited CEO, Mrs Kemi Agbakaye, said the success of any business is to ensure safety in all facet which will go a long way in making IBEDC achieve the ISO 45001 mandate.
World Day for Health and Safety was initiated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) because every day, 6,300 people die as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases – more than 2.3 million deaths per year. 317 million accidents occur on the job annually; many of these resulting in extended absences from work.
The human cost of this daily adversity is vast and the economic burden of poor occupational safety and health practices is estimated at 4 percent of global Gross Domestic Product each year.
