Rivers first lady’s convoy driver electrocuted

Saturday's environmental sanitation exercise turned out a sad one for the government of Rivers State as one of the convoy drivers  attached to the wife of the governor, Dame Judith Amaechi, was electrocuted.

It was learnt that the victim, one Ibiba Jack, was said to be in his early forties. He was  said to have lost his life trying to rescue another member of staff of the Government House, who was trapped around a naked wire while m

According to a witness, who preferred to be anonymous, the lawnmower being used had been entangled by a naked  life wire and was already harming the user when Ibiba went to his rescue and got electrocuted instead.   

Confirming the incident, the chief of staff to the Government House, Chief Tony Okocha, who described the death of the convoy driver as "unfortunate" attributed the cause of the death to "carelessness".

Okocha statedthat the late driver merely went to help the man who was cutting the grass when he stepped on a naked wire. "People can just cause problems for themselves unnecessarily. They stepped on a naked wire from the wall and that is what caused the death".

He said that electricity was not connected in all the flats in the new Government House Staff quarters built by Governor Amaechi, a situation that prompted some residents of the quarters to seek alternative power supply.

The Chief of Staff who went straight to the teaching hospital where the survivor of the electric accident was rushed to, confirmed that Ibiba's corpse had been deposited in the mortuary.

Meanwhile, a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Rivers State Governor, David Iyofor, stated that Jack was involved in a domestic electrical accident.

"Ibiba was a dedicated, hardworking staff of the government house and we are all deeply touched by this sad, sudden loss. Governor Amaechi and his wife, whom Ibiba worked with directly are indeed deeply shocked and saddened by this unfortunate loss. They sympathise with the bereaved family", the statement said.

Ibiba Jack was married and had a child.