Two yet-to-be-identified schoolchildren were electrocuted while taking shelter at a roadside shop during a downpour in Nnewichi, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident, which occurred at the St. Peter’s Claver Junction on Monday, threw the community into mourning.
According to eyewitnesses and CCTV footage from the scene, monitored by our correspondent on Tuesday, the children were among several pupils who sought refuge in the roadside shop during the heavy rainfall on that fateful day.
One of the eyewitnesses and a resident near the scene said, “Several pupils were taking shelter at the roadside shop during the heavy rainfall.
“But tragedy, however, struck when the wet bodies of two of the schoolchildren came in contact with a live metal in the place, and they were instantly electrocuted.
“While others narrowly escaped, including some bystanders who were also surprised at how everything happened in just a twinkle of an eye.”
He said the development caused panic in the area as it was unexpected, disclosing that, “The owner of the shop had not opened for business when the incident happened.
It took the intervention of some security officers and other passers-by, who, with the help of protective gloves, evacuated the bodies of the children.”
The incident occurred just a few days after a similar tragedy in the same Nnewi area, where a woman was swept away by floodwaters in the Uruagu community, after which her body was found in a river.
When contacted on the development on Tuesday, the spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the command was aware of the incident, but added that the details were not yet clear.
The facts are not clear, but the divisional police officer has been directed to find out the details for a comprehensive report. As soon as I get the details, I will get back to you,” he added.
PUNCH Online had on May 27 reported that grief struck at Isaiah Morah Close, Awka, the Anambra State capital, on Saturday, when a fallen high tension cable belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company electrocuted a three-year-old girl in the area.
The girl was said to have stepped on the cable, not knowing there was current in it.
PUNCH Online gathered that the high-tension cable had fallen the previous day, and all efforts to get it removed failed.
Some residents in the area who spoke to journalists on Monday said the officials of the power company who were contacted demanded the sum of N30,000 to fix the cable and after the money was paid to them, they still did not come.
A resident identified simply as Uche said, “The electric cable fell on Friday, and it was only fixed on Sunday, May 24, 2025, after it had electrocuted the girl.
“The incident was posted on our WhatsApp group, and a team was dispatched by the power company to immediately respond, but they could not locate the place. After allegedly trying their best, they went back to the office.
“The three-year-old girl who was electrocuted lived with her mother and other people in a house under construction and partly abandoned in the street.
“They usually go out to fetch water from other compounds. But unfortunately, on that fateful day, as she was coming home, she stepped on the fallen cable, not knowing that the cable had power.
“The innocent girl went near and was electrocuted. When other children saw what happened, they shouted, and the adults who ran out carefully pulled her off, rushing her to the Awka Medical Centre at the Udoka gate, but she did not make it.”