Fatal Error: How 25-year-old died in ‘pure water’ company

Late Emmanuel
Nkwogba

If 25-year-old Emmanuel Nkwogba, who hails from Imo State, had known that going to work on the night of May 28, 2013 will cost him his life, he would have stayed at home with his family. But just as nobody knows the day or the hour of his death, he went to work and heeded the great call of all mortals.
On that fateful day,  Emma as he was fondly called, left his parents and siblings at home after watching a movie for his night shift work at the Zenith Pure water company along Yandoka road in Bauchi metropolis.
VM learnt that Emma had for years been a hard working staff of the pure water company and had been credited for managing business satisfactorily. It was said that through the job he was able to assist his  family financially and

otherwise. Sadly enough, the job which was a source of livelihood for him, turned out to be the cause of his death.

Tragedy struck when Emma tried to fix one of the automatic sealing machines in the company and in the process, a nut from the machine fell out. It was in an attempt by Emma to retrieve the nut under the machine that he got electrocuted when his body came in close contact with the machine.
Confirming the tragic incident to VM in his office, the Manager of Zenith Pure water in Bauchi, Mr. Nwankwo Eric, said: “My staff got electrocuted when he tried to bring out a nut that fell under the automatic sealing machine. It was absolute carelessness on his part because when the nut fell under the machine, he knelt down and pressed himself close to the cable wires where there was a circulation of electricity as he was trying to reach the nut”.
Continuing, Mr. Nwankwo said there was no need for Emma to try reaching the nut that fell from the sealing machine because two of his colleagues who were working with him on the night shift, could have assisted him to get the nut as they were very close to him.
The grieving boss  disclosed that he was out of town when the incident occurred, noting that he was devastated when he got the news of the demise of his best staff. Nwankwo described the late Emma as very hard-working who managed the affairs of the company with all seriousness.
“Emma is the most hardworking staff in my company. He never complains when he is told to carry out any duty and he manages the business like his own. I will miss him because we were very close and he is like a son to me,” he said.
One of the late Emma’s colleagues called Ifeanyi Kingsley who was working with him on that fateful day said:  “My colleague tried to repair the sealing machine because he was conversant with all the machines in the factory and normally fixes them whenever there was a fault.
“As he was fixing the machine, one of the nuts  fell off and he tried to reach it by putting his hands under the machine. As he knelt down trying to reach the nut under the machine, he had a close body contact with the machine and got electrocuted”.
He described his late colleague as a gentle and hardworking person who never had trouble with anybody and stressed he would be greatly missed by everyone.
When VM visited the bereaved family at Aminu Street, Bakinkura, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis, the entire family were yet to come to terms with the demise of Emma as everything still looked like a dream to them.
Mr.Oyeka Nkwogba, the father of thevictim and a tailor by profession told VM that: “It was around 11′ o clock in the night that some staff of the Zenith pure water came to my house, saying that they wanted to see me. By that time I was not in the house so they met with my wife who told them I was not at home.
“When my wife enquired from them what happened, they told her that my son had an accident and my attention was required at the Bauchi Teaching Hospital. So my wife contacted me and told me what happened. I came home immediately and we all rushed to the Teaching Hospital where they confirmed to us that my son was already dead and kept in the mortuary”.
Mr.Oyeka who described the death of his son as the will of God, said he would miss him, especially as the young man had so much to live for before his sudden death.