Since March 11, 2020 when a bill to prohibit the importation and use of generating sets, was proposed, most Nigerians have refused to see its benefits. All they could see however was its negative perspective.
The bill which was sponsored by Senator Bima Muhammadu Emagi (APC Niger South), passed its first reading on the floor of the Senate chamber.
If eventually signed into law, the bill dubbed ‘Generating Set (Prohibition/Ban) Bill’, will prohibit the usage of generating sets in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The bill, titled: “A bill for an Act to prohibit/ban the importation and use of generating sets” will not only curb the menace of environmental (air) pollution, it will facilitate the development of the power sector and end meaningless deaths from generator fumes, which can be avoided if generators are banned in Nigeria.
For instance, on May 21, at about 7:30 a.m., 2019, two brothers were found dead in a shop owned by their sister at Ojota area of Lagos State, after they allegedly inhaled generator fumes while sleeping the previous night.
Also, on July 12 , the same year, a Nigerian couple and their five children died in Rivers State as a result of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.
“A family of seven made up of the father, the mother and five children were discovered dead. They were suffocated to death by fumes from a generator.
“The victims were found dead inside their one-bedroom apartment in Too-Much-Money Street in Ikwerre, Rivers State.
“We have commenced investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to their death,” state police spokesperson, Nnamdi Omoni, said in Port Harcourt.
According to initial investigations, the generator was kept in the kitchen while the fumes spread into the sitting room where members of the family were.
On July 19, 2019, a family of seven, including husband and wife died at Elele in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. With no power supply from the electricity company serving their area, the family turned on the portable generator, positioned it outside the door and went to bed. They were all discovered dead in their home the following day.
Damilola Joan lost his younger brother through generator fumes in Lugbe, Abuja,
She went for vigil in one of the big churches in Abuja and left his younger brother at home. When she came back, she discovered her brother stone dead.
“My brother is a trader in Area One Market. We had agreed to go for vigil at the close of business. At 10 pm he called me and told me to go and that he would meet me in church. When I did not see him, I thought that he had decided not to attend. In the morning when I came back, I discovered that the generator was still on but our window was open. When I knocked and nobody answered me I peeped through the window and saw that he was still lying on the bare floor. I called him and he did not answer. When I sensed that there was something wrong, I broke the window with the help of neighbours. We, later discovered that he was dead.
“Since then, I have not put on the generator. The earlier the facility is banned the better for all of us” she said.
Okere Nwankwo is a man in his 50s. He came back from work and found his wife and two children lifeless in their bedroom.
Okere is a menial worker with one of the construction companies. He went to work on January 3, 2020. He came back in the morning and saw all the members of his family motionless. The fuel in the generator had dried up and the generator went off. But the autopsy disclosed that it was generator fume that caused the death.
He vowed that he would never use generator again.
Again, Mr Ogandimma Joshua was lucky. He woke up in the midnight and discovered that his wife and his three boys were motionless as he tried to wake them up. He raised alarm and when his neighbours came, they discovered that they were still alive but weak. So, they gave them palm oil and other treatments.
“I bought a new and bigger generator. So, I decided to bring it close to the window for fear of thieves. Somehow, the fume found its way into the bedroom. In the midnight, I woke up because I was choking. But when I tried to wake my wife and children up they were stiff. So, I raised alarm. The neighbours that came hurried them out of the room, put off the generator and revived them.
Those children are graduates now.
Since then, if there is no NEPA, I will not put on generator. Let them ban generator. It causes more harm than good” he said.
Recall that the issue of power supply has appeared intractable, a situation that has given rise to the importation of generators.
source: The Sun
