How Woman Was Confined To Wheelchair For 7 Years After Faulty IKEDC Electric Pole Fell On Her 

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the pole forced Mrs. Onilude’s head into the dirty water and the impact of the strike knocked her to an unconscious state. She became paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for seven years now.

Luckily, her seven-month-old son, who was strapped to her back at the time the pole collapsed was unhurt. Her husband eventually dumped her for another woman while the electricity distribution company, IKEDC, left her to her fate.

After the horrible incident, the mother of two was first taken to the Isolo General Hospital, but the medical experts on duty were unable to attend to her due to the severity of the injuries she had sustained. She was referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit.

At LUTH, doctors would later confirm that she had suffered a burst fracture of the cervical vertebrae, spinal misalignment, spinal cord compression and a mild traumatic brain injury.

Despite the many surgeries the victim, Onilude, underwent, the 35-year-old mother was rendered unconscious for four months. She was in coma, now fully paralysed and suffers constantly from chronic pain, loss of bladder control, frequent seizures, sleeplessness and unpredictable drops in body temperature.

Narrating her ordeal,  Mrs. Onilude stated:

“I lived on Agbeke Street, in Ago Okota, the particular street where the IKEDC pole fell on me. Actually, I was on my way home after closing for the day from work when the pole collapsed on me. When the incident happened, some of my family members visited the IKEDC office in our area to register their displeasure against them, letting them know that the pole had injured me.”

“As a matter of fact, the electricity pole had been a threat to the people living in that area, because it had been in a decaying, deplorable and acutely bent state for years. Despite all the concerns raised by residents, the power distribution company left the decaying pole bent and dangerously close to the path plied by people on Agbeke Street for several months.”

“Afterwards, the Doctors at LUTH requested that my husband visit our area and take a picture of the pole. When he got there, he found out that the pole was no longer lying on the street. It was at that point that he was told by other residents that the IKEDC officials had secretly come in the late hours of the night to take it away from our neighbourhood.”

The embittered woman said that the incident had brought stagnation to her life and completely destroyed the once good life she had going for her and family.

“It has brought stagnation to my life. My family members and loved ones spent over N30 million on my treatments and medical bills alone. I had my first surgery in LUTH in November, 2018, and it gulped several millions of Naira. After the surgery, I was also advised to take up aggressive therapy sessions by the doctors attending to me.

They gave me the advice in their bids to ensure that I got back to full fitness. This was after I had my first surgery. A physiotherapist would also always visit me five times every week to ensure everything was fine with me.”

“At a point, I also engaged local therapists, I mean trado-medical practitioners, in my desperation to get well and regain full fitness on time.

I also spent a fortune on that. Thankfully, I was able to move my muscles a bit through the sessions, but in a wider sense, I am still paralysed. This is because I have been rendered permanently immobile and can no longer walk and move about however I wanted, and on my own.”

“My family had to employ the services of two caregivers so they could help me take care of the house and my children as well. I could no longer carry out a complete task on my own and had to always rely on their assistance for help. I rely on them to cater to my personal needs because I could no longer take care of myself. I pay them N60,000 each on a monthly basis. As I am talking to you, I have already defecated on myself. This is because I no longer have any control over my body system. Once the urge comes, the faeces come out unhindered. This is because I no longer have the ability to hold whatever is about to come out of my body till I am able to drag myself to the toilet.”

“My doctors told me the muscles that are supposed to prevent solid waste from coming out from my body are no longer active. They are now very weak and no longer function effectively.”

‘My husband left me to start another family with another woman. Before the accident, my relationship with my husband was strong, romantic and pleasant. We had a happy home and things went effortlessly well for us. There were even times friends, who were close to us, would cite our marriage as a good example of a happy and healthy relationship while discussing relationship matters.”

“We used to live in a four-bedroom apartment in Okota, and never had any disagreement or any serious couples fight.

After I had the accident, he first sold some of his property to pay for my treatments and medical bills. He spent most of the money he once used in running his building material business on my treatment. He also went as far as securing millions of Naira in loans from banks to take care of my medical bills.”

“At the beginning of 2021, however, he became quite depressed when my condition would not in any way improve. He would snap at me at the slightest of provocations, and would also no longer laugh at utterances and remarks he himself used to treat as mere jokes. There were even times he would describe me as a heavy burden and I would start crying. What used to be a happy home later became a home full of sorrow, sadness and fights. To be fair, he had already exceeded my expectations by selling most of his property to ensure I get healed. It was unfortunate that our marriage eventually fell apart.”

“My husband later resolved to staying away from home, without bothering to tell anybody his whereabouts or location in the same year and in November, 2024, I finally got to find out that he had married another woman,” she narrated.

In all these years, IKEDC did not respond despite the efforts the embattled woman has made to inform the company about her condition.

A human rights lawyer,  Barr. Omobolaji Adejumo, who is Mrs. Onilude’s legal representative, described the situation  as unfortunate and explained that he had sent letters to IKEDC twice, but the distribution company elected not to respond on both occasions.

“We have written IKEDC twice on the matter, but have not gotten any response from them,” said Adejumo.

“As a matter of fact, they (IKEDC) did acknowledge receipt of the letters with a time stamp on both occasions. We, however, never got any response from them.

We are still on the matter and hope that in the end, Madam Onilude gets justice.”

In one of letters on August 2024, which Onilude’s lawyer sent to IKEDC, the victim’s legal representative demanded a N5 billion compensation on her behalf.

However, there has not been any official response from IKEDC. When our correspondent contacted the company, it appears that the company is saying why did she come out on that day for the pole to fall on her.

The lawyer also noted that Onilude was open to a settlement out of court, but IKEDC has not responded to any of the letters it received to date. The company probably felt that she cannot get justice.