The Calabar community where 7 people died while watching a football match is returning to normalcy
The people of the community have also reached out to the power authorities to help prevent such occurrence in the future
The area has since being disconnected from power supply pending removal of the high tension cable
On Thursday, April 20, 7 people were died of electric shock with 11 hospitalized while they were watching a football match at a football viewing centre in Nyagasang community in the Atimbo area of Calabar.
As the community tries to return to normal, business and social activities have since picked up as people in the area try to put the gruesome incident behind them.
According to Vanguard, a community leader, Mr Ndabo Eno-Obong, who described the incident as a `disaster,’ said that the community was now looking unto the government, non- governmental organisation and well meaning Nigerians for assistance.
The scene of the incident has become a tourist site of some sort
Mr Eno-Obong said: “This tragic event has never happened before in this community. Watching our young ones who had gone out to express their passion for football die is very painful.
“Football is a game of unity; it is one special game that takes youths off crime. What has befallen this community is a great disaster.
“As you can see, we are peace loving people; normalcy has returned to the area because we asked all youths to be calm as events unfold."
He also said that the police helped in evacuating the dead bodies and taking the injured to the hospital.
Mr Bassey Edim, the secretary of Nyagasang Qua Clan, also revealed that since the incident, different groups from the government, PHEDC management, NGOs and others had continued to visit the place.
“A day after the incident happened, we called our youths in a town hall meeting and appealed to them to be calm.
“When PHEDC top management staff visited the area, we received them peacefully, because we want the right thing to be done as it concerns the dead and those hospitalised.
“But, we are appealing to PHEDC to always carry out regular checks of all electrical installations in other to avoid further loss of lives and properties’’, he said.
A woman who lost her husband in the incident, Mrs Theresa Edem, appealed to the government to come to her aid, saying that raising her three children without her husband will now be difficult.
Also, Mrs Florence Akpan, a petty trader in the community revealed that the shock of the incident compelled shop owners in the area to close for business as early as 6p.m.
She said: “Between Friday and Saturday, we have been operating like government offices that close for work by 6p.m.
“But from the look of things, normalcy has returned to the area and this means that we can now start closing our shops by 9.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily which is our normal time."
While the high tension cable that caused the havoc is still on the roof of the viewing centre, the area has since been temporarily disconnected from electricity supply.
It was earlier reported that Yakubu Dogara has urged the Cross River state government to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of soccer fans in Calabar.
The speaker expressed sadness over the unfortunate incident which led to the death of football fans in a viewing centre.
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