For over a year, residents of Bosuwa town in Maigatari Local Government Area of Jigawa State have continued to bear the brunt of a midnight inferno caused by sudden power surge.
Residents told PRNigeria that the tragedy could have been averted if the Kano Electric Distribution Company (KEDCO) listened to their complaints on the looming disaster.
The incident happened in the midnight of Wednesday, 4th of May, 2022, following a spark from a high tension cable which almost set the entire town ablaze.
The fire which raged for a couple of hours led to the death of one person and many others also got seriously injured. The inferno also razed down a community Hospital, Water Point, Schools, Central Mosque, houses and all electrical appliances connected to the power supply.
As a result, many businesses were lost which continued to impact negatively on the socio-economic status of the people living in the community up to this moment.
How I Lost my Hardworking Son – Septuagenarian
Alhaji Umar Bosuwa, the father of 35-year-old Isyaku Umar who lost his life after stepping on high tension cable during the tragic incident, spoke with our team.
According to the septuagenarian, since the demise of his son who left behind three children (two males and female), life has been difficult for them.
While describing the circumstances that led to the death of his son, Alhaji Umar said; “My late son was trying to separate two sparking electric cables but unfortunately he got electrocuted and died instantly.
“Since his demise, nobody is helping me with farming activities, I am doing it alone on my own. I used to do what I could and leave the rest to him and return home.”
However, PRNigeria learnt that the KEDCO did not make any significant effort to compensate or even assist the family of the deceased who met his untimely death allegedly due to the company’s lackadaisical attitude in putting proactive measures towards averting the tragedy.
“Ever since the death of my son due to electrocution, KEDCO did not assist or summon me in that regard,” Alhaji Umar said.
Also, while narrating their ordeal, another family member of the deceased, Malam Ado Umar, added that:” After his death, what KEDCO offered us was the sum of N5,000 (Five thousand naira only) which they donated when they visited our house for condolence. After then, they never came back to us or make any promise to help us.
“Taking care of the children he left behind has been very difficult, because even before his death we were having not less than 8 other orphans under our care,” Malam Ado added.
The family stated that they did not make any attempt to take legal action against KEDCO because they are financially incapable of engaging in a showdown with a powerful company.
Malam Ado added that the family would appreciate any form of assistance that would enable them get compensation from the company.
Apart from Gumel Emirates Foundation (GEF) that supported the residents with cash and relief materials, PRNigeria learned that, up till the time of filing this report, there is no any form of intervention from either state or federal government through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) or National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
“I will call on the government to come to my aid as I am currently in a difficult situation, because sometimes I used to sleep with an empty stomach.” Alhaji Umaru added.
I am unable to pay my tuition fee – Undergraduate cries out
Abba Hussaini is currently a 300 Level student of Optometry at Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.
When PRNigeria correspondent visited this community, Hussaini could not go back to school as he is still struggling to gather money so as to settle his tuition fee for the academic session.
Hussaini was famously known to operate a car wash business along the major street leading to Bosuwa town.
He however lost his entire business during the tragedy due to the burning down of a borehole that supplies water, a pumping machine and electric cables which are all connected to the electricity.
“It is through this business that I used to settle my school fees, provide food for my family and help other relatives. My parents are very poor, they depend on me for their upkeep but I am now grounded.
“I spent not less than N800,000 in procuring those items including the plot of land to set up the business some years back.
“We waited for the government to assist us and the KEDCO to compensate us for the valuable items lost because the tragedy actually happened due to levity from the company by not taking our words seriously when it mattered,” he Hussaini.
He added that since the incident happened, life has become difficult for him and his family because he couldn’t bounce back and provide new oxygen for his dead business.
PRNigeria learned that Hussaini, who is described in the community as having an obsessive romance with education, had since put his house on the market for sale in order to pay his school fees. But up till now, there is no serious buyer who has indicated interest in acquiring it.
Our losses are unquantifiable – Traditional leader
While commenting on the issue, Alhaji Ismail Waziri, who also holds the traditional title of ‘Wakilin Hakimin Bosuwa’, described the incident as a kind of tragedy that the town has never experienced before due to the nature of damages incurred.
“The damage and loss of valuable items incurred was unquantifiable. Because our houses, community hospital, main water point and central mosque were all destroyed.
“Also, a lot of people sustained various degrees of injuries as they scampered for safety into the surrounding bushes and cemetery while one of them lost his life,” Waziri added.
According to him, KEDCO did not make any effort to render assistance as it even took them a great deal before the electricity was restored to the community and no compensation was paid.
However, he acknowledged the efforts of the local government council for repairing their mosque and some sections of the hospital that got burnt as well as GEF that settled medical bills for some injured residents.
“I beg the government to as a matter of urgency come and assist us because we are currently in a difficult situation.” Waziri added.
Businesses crumble, hopes dashed as more victims count losses
Abalasiyyah Suleiman is a housewife that lost her two deep freezers to the avoidable inferno.
She has been using the fridge as a source of livelihood through which she supports her husband in keeping the family afloat.
“I lost my deep freezers, fan, entire clothes and other domestic items during the inferno.
The victim added that her neighbour also had her entire room burnt down to the extent that nothing could be accounted for including mattress, clothes, mats, furniture, electric appliances and other valuables.
“It is unfortunate that since the damage to my freezer, I have become grounded as things became very difficult for me due to a halt in my business operations.
Another victim, Abubakar Usman, was also selling cold soft drinks, sachets and bottled water in the town before the unfortunate incident.
However, the business has now been paralysed due to burning of his cold room, freezers, air conditioners and some sections of the shop.
According to him, the business was booming to the extent that he was able to help his relatives but everything came to a standstill after being struck with this tragedy.
“Up to now, I was not able to recover my losses and bounce back and we are still expecting support from the government or KEDCO but nothing reached us except for GEF that came to our aid within their capacity.” Usman added.
In another episode, Sunusi Usman was into telecommunication business where he used to operate a Point of Sale (PoS) machine, sell recharge cards and charge mobile phones inside his kiosk located at the center of Bosuwa town.
“I lost all my items used in carrying out this business including electronics and up till now I have not fully recovered from the tragedy,” Usman added.
Revealing her own side of the story, an elderly woman, called Habi Nagaji, narrated to a PRNigeria reporter, saying; “I ran for my life almost naked to a nearby village called Labune where I hid together with my grandchild.”
She added that she lost a freezer, sewing machine, plastic containers and other valuable domestic items to the fire outbreak – a development that continues impacting negatively on her socio-economic situation up to now.
Danladi Yusuf is another victim who could not rescue anything from his room when the fire outbreak started.
“Last year during the tragedy, we lost a lot of valuables, because as you can see this burnt room, nothing was taken out of it. Everything including furniture, bed, mattress, clothes, wrappers were lost.
In addition, Malam Danladi also lost his entire capital with which he runs his business to the inferno.
“I kept about N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira Only) in my pocket but they were burnt alongside my clothes,” Danladi added.
Alhassan Bawa Soja, a resident of Bosuwa narrated to PRNigeria on how the tragic incident happened.
“The incident happened around 02.00am and lasted for several hours. It started from the Eastern part of the town when we noticed electric sparks from the junction boxes on top of the electric polls ejecting various colours of lightning such as blue, green, yellow, red, pink etc. and then there was a very loud and shocking sound!
“The entire electric poles within Bosuwa town are ejecting light simultaneously, people became distressed and lost focus thereby running helter skelter in order to save their lives.
“The entire Bosuwa town was on fire, thus, people including male, women, children and older ones ran into the bushes and cemetery for shelter where they passed the night. Also, livestocks including cattle, sheeps and goats died due to electric poles that fell on them.
“While dealing with this situation, there was also another loud noise due to the bombardment of another transformer. People became more terrified as parents abandoned their children and vice versa. We have never experienced this kind of tragedy in Bosuwa,” he said.
According to Sani Sana’a Goma, another resident who witnessed the incident, valuables worth over N100million were lost.
Malam Sani stated that the majority of the victims cannot continue with their businesses up till now because they couldn’t recover from the loss.
“As a result, they deserted the town to cities in the Southern part of the country like Owerri, Onitsha, Aba etc. Also, many people cannot even farm due to lack of money to acquire agricultural inputs,” Sani added.
How KEDCO threatened residents with eviction for mulling legal action – Youth leader
Residents and victims in Bosuwa town told PRNigeria that they would have wanted the court to compel KEDCO to compensate them for the damages and losses incurred during the inferno but have no option but to abandon such plan.
According to them, it is unfortunate that they lack financial capacity including someone or any organisation to help them claim their rights, which forced them to abandon the idea.
Sani Sule, a youth leader in Bosuwa town told PRNigeria that they initially planned to take legal action but KEDCO intimidated them adding that it is their fault that led to the electricity power surge in the first place.
“They threatened us that many households are under high tension and must relocate. As a result of this threat, we backed down due to fear of losing our ancestral homes which have been in existence even before the coming of electricity to the town.
“We concluded that this is not a fight we can win, thus, we gave up.
“However, we are pleading with the government and other stakeholders to come and assist us in order to cushion the effect of this tragedy.” Sule added.
How we supported victims of the inferno – Gumel Emirates Foundation
Alhaji Sadiq Ismail, is the assistant secretary of the committee established by the GEF to assess the magnitude of damage incurred due to electric power surge in Bosuwa town and to distribute palliatives to the victims.
According to him, the damages recorded included death, injury, burning of houses, hospital, mosque, electric cables, electric appliances and boreholes which supply water to the town.
He added that the town had to face scarcity of water for a couple of weeks before the situation was brought under control.
PRNigeria learned that the foundation put the value of the properties lost to the inferno at not less than N150million.
“We supported the victims with food, clothes, start-up capital, other domestic items and foot medicals bills for some injured victims.
“As part of safety measures, the foundation also provided and installed electric cutouts to about 250 houses in the town so as to prevent future occurrences.
Mr. Ismail added that they mobilised state and national assembly members in the constituency including Maigatari LGA chairman to intervene on the situation but their efforts did not witness the light of the day.
“We have also written to SEMA officially to draw their attention to the plight of these people but our efforts were fruitless.
“Government should assist these people and for the one who lost his life, something should be done to improve the lives of the children he left behind.” Ismail added.
Residents lament as Blackout Hits Bosuwa
When PRNigeria visited the community, it was observed that Bosuwa town has been under total blackout for nearly five months.
The situation has undoubtedly added to the list of woes currently affecting the community with great consequences on socio-economic development.
“There is no light in Bosuwa town during Ramadan fasting. As a result of the inferno which led to the breakdown of the poles, thieves and vandals have stolen the electric cables.
“From one village called Balarabe down to Bosuwa, I counted not less than 30 electric poles without cables and all of them were stolen after the incident happened,” a resident told PRNigeria.
According to a traditional leader who spoke to our correspondent, the community has written officially to the Office of the Deputy Governor of Jigawa State about the issue but no action has been done.
“We also visited our Local Government Council Chairman on the same matter, but he said they cannot do it now because they previously repaired our mosque and hospital after the inferno,” the traditional leader added.
According to a KEDCO representative in the town, a minimum of N10m will be needed to restore electricity to the community.
Natural cause responsible for the inferno – KEDCO Reacts
According to an official of KEDCO stationed in Gumel, their company did not receive an official report from the community about any fault regarding their electric installations or equipment.
He therefore blamed the genesis of the inferno to the natural causes.
“The power surge occurred as a result of strong wind that blew a high tension cable which fell on other power cable conveying electricity into the town thereby leading to the unfortunate incident,” said the official.
We were not aware of the inferno – NEMA
While responding to our reporter, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Coordinator, Kano/Jigawa Territorial Office, Nuradeen Abdullahi, said that they were yet to receive an official report about the incident from the affected community or any other right channel.
“Whenever there is a disaster, we usually respond by sending our team to the affected community for inspection after receiving an official report from the affected community or other right channels including the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
The Coordinator also added that, NEMA can only intervene in a situation where the severity of the disaster has overwhelmed the capacity of Local Government Council and State Government to handle.
“Now if we receive an official report accompanied with proof, then we will inspect to see if it overwhelm their (state and local governments) capacities and see what we can do about it.” Mr. Abdullahi added.
However, an official of Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), confirmed to PRNigeria that they have notified the then Muhammad Badaru-led administration of the state about the situation but without response.
He however declined comment when asked if they have notified NEMA about the situation.
This report is produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
