Abuja: 16-year-old student dies after stepping on high-tension cable on school premises

• The parent disclosed that the student met his end on his way to fetch water from a tap when he inadvertently stepped on an electric cable

One Meshack Agaba, a 16-year-old boy, has died of electrocution inside his school premises in Abuja.

The incident happened at Government Science Secondary School in the Maitama area of the Federal Capital Territory last Wednesday.

A parent whose kid attends the school and has sufficient knowledge on what transpired spoke in confidence with newsmen.

The parent disclosed that the student met his end on his way to fetch water from a tap when he inadvertently stepped on an electric cable that had strayed from a fallen electric pole inside the school compound.

The source disclosed that the deceased was in the same hostel as his child, adding that the electrical issue has not been fixed after the incident.

Punch quoted the source as saying, “The electric pole and the cable had been lying in the area before the incident. The school management didn’t do anything about it. However, Agaba was trying to fetch water last Wednesday morning because they normally wake up at 5am to fetch water.

“The boy is in the same hostel as my child. The place was slippery, and as he was trying to regain balance, he mistakenly stepped on the conductor, and he was electrocuted instantly. I’m surprised that even after the incident, that pole has not been fixed by the school management. The only thing the management did was post the picture of the boy on a wall with the ‘Gone too soon’ inscription.”

The concerned parent also lamented that despite the incident, the school management had been trying to twist the order of event and suppress the truth after the police were involved, claiming that the boy had wanted to jump the fence when the cable fell on him.

The source added, “They didn’t say the thing that led to the boy’s death. They pretended as if it were just a normal thing. Nothing was said about the incident. Since the incident happened, the Parent-Teacher Association’s social media platform has been locked. Parents are not allowed to speak about the incident on that platform. The school is one of the top secondary schools in the FCT.

“The police even came to pick up the principal. The school management lied, saying that the boy was trying to jump through the fence when the cable fell on him. How can someone who was only wearing a towel attempt to jump the fence at that time of the day?

“I also learnt from my child that when they were rushing him to the hospital, the school security was asking for their exit card. The boy died as a result of the delay. The school did not want to take responsibility for what happened. To date, the fallen pole has not been fixed while academic activities are ongoing. The school management didn’t even say anything about it.”