Residents link situation to epileptic power supply by DisCos
Amgbare Ekaunkumo, Yenagoa
Ebis Mechanic road off Amarata in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa State, was Tuesday thrown into mourning following the discovery of the decomposing bodies of seven friends who were found in a music studio apartment.
The tragic incident, suspected to have been caused by generator fumes in the studio owned by one of the deceased identified as Akpos Barakubo, occurred after their studio section, and they decided to have a little rest in the apartment.
Our Correspondent, learnt that six bodies were later discovered dead in the morning, while one who was unconscious and rushed to the hospital later gave up.
According to residents of the area, the crew members in the studio were working into the midnight using their generating set due to poor power supply in the state, and may have fell asleep and forgot to switch off the power generator.
It was also gathered that most of the deceased are undergraduate students from the Niger Delta University,NDU, who are into the recording business to help themselves in school.
A resident of the area, Mr Damion Asamonye, blamed the state and federal governments as well as power distribution company for their death the saying if there was adequate power supply, there wouldn’t have been any need for generator at night.
He lamented the situation in Bayelsa State where Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company,PHED, will only bring light when they want to collect bills and took it away shortly after customers pay the bills.
He said: “Both Federal and State government have failed us, if there was public power supply, maybe these people wouldn’t have lost their lives in this circumstances.
“Seven able bodied young men just died like that because of the failure of government, most annoying thing is that tomorrow, the PHED personnel will come with ladder to disconnect light that they are not supplying, how can people be spending their money in fueling generators despite the current hardship in Nigeria, even after paying for light bills.?
Another resident in the area, Mrs Joy Reuben, said the whole neighborhood woke up on Tuesday morning to witness the tragic incident, calling on government to ensure that there is adequate power supply in the state, so that citizens will not be allowed to die in such circumstances again.
When contacted, police spokesman in Bayelsa State, ASP Musa Muhammed, promised to find out and call back, but he did not pick his calls afterwards.
As at the time of filling the report, security operatives have cordoned off the area, while the corpses are been evacuated to the mortuary.
