A man refusal to pay an electrician 2,500 Naira ($8) to fix broken electricity in his building had resulted in the death of his fiancee. Loretta Ewere, 35, was staying with Fiance, Segun Tolani on Ajoke Kazeem Street in the Idimu area of Lagos State when they had electricity problems.
Loretta and Segun both stayed in the same apartment after their introduction four years ago. They had scheduled their wedding to be this coming month, and family and friends were already in high gear for the wedding.
According to a neighbour, the tragedy happened around 1pm. The neighbour who does not want to be identified said;
The man had wanted to change his old cable TV decoder and antenna. When power was restored, he discovered that he didn’t have electricity in his house.
He wanted to do it himself, but neighbours advised him to get the service of an electrician. He contacted an electrician who billed him N2,500. But he said the charge was too high. He decided to go and rent a wooden ladder from someone in the area.
He mounted the ladder on the wall and called the lady from inside the room to assist him in holding the ladder. She held the ladder with one hand and held an iron pole beside the room with the other hand.
While he was working, the wire fell and touched the pole she was holding and that was how she was electrocuted.
Her husband cried out for help when the incident happened, but when a woman who was around at the time tried to rescue her with bare hands, she was flung off by the current.
An electrician was then invited, who helped to disconnect the power from more damage.
Friends and neighbours tried to resuscitate her by giving her milk, but it was too late, Loretta was gone.
Before her death, Loretta from Delta state worked in Union Diagnostics, a medical lab in Ikeja, while Tolani, who hails from Ekiti State, worked with an insurance company.
The family of Loretta blames Tolani stinginess on the death of their daughter, and said if he had paid the 2,500 Naira, the lady would still be alive.