Police Launches Investigation Into Death Of Family Of Four Who Were Electrocuted In Taraba 

The Taraba State Police Command has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a family of four electrocuted around the Dinyavo area of Jalingo in the state.

Naija News reports that the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abdullahi Usman, who confirmed the electrocution on Monday, identified the victims as Remond Ofonbuk, Mfonbong Remond, Hevean Remond, and First Remond.

This platform reported yesterday that a family of four was electrocuted and burnt to death after a power surge in the Dinyavoh area of Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

It was gathered that the family’s last child was the only surviving person from the incident.

The power surge, according to eyewitnesses, was sparked by a transformer explosion, which affected nine houses,  leaving several people injured.

Narrating the incident to The Nation, two eyewitnesses who are neighbours of the deceased said the man was about to change the fuse when he was electrocuted

One of the neighbour, Mr. Dogonyaro, revealed: “My wife called me that our house has caught fire. She was crying when she called me. She told me that our neighbour and their four children got burnt. I now asked her to call for assistance. I told them to break the house. Assistance came, and our neighbours were brought out. The man, his wife, and two children were all burnt except the last born, called ‘Heart,’ who survived.

“They were electrocuted and burnt. It happened that when the man wanted to remove the fuse from the mains, he was electrocuted. The wife was lying down because she had just been operated upon. She made an attempt to assist and also got electrocuted.”

He also admitted that they have been experiencing such power surges within this period, blaming the incident on a thunderstorm and the nature of the wiring in the compound.

In his narration, the police PRO said, “At about 11 am on Monday, we were reliably informed that a house located at Dinyavoh area of Jalingo was on fire. Detectives from GRA Police Division were quickly deployed to the scene and, on arrival, found the four victims with burns suspected to be from electrocution.

“The victims are Remond Ofonbuk, 44, his wife, Mfonbong Remond, Hevean Remond, 15, and First Remond, 13 years old. We have received information indicating that immediately power was restored, the transformer serving the area blew up.

“We learnt that many houses within the neighbourhood experienced high electric voltage, which might have led to the fire outbreak that inflicted burns on the victims.

“Our detectives quickly evacuated the victims to Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, for treatment, but they were confirmed dead on arrival.

“The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, for autopsy while an investigation is on to ascertain the actual cause of the incident.”