Two students of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, overnight lost their lives in their sleep after inhaling exhaust fumes (carbon monoxide) from a running electricity generating set.
Mr Williams Aya (SP), the Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO) who confirmed the incident in a telephone call said the generator was placed close to the window of the deceased’s off-campus lodge in Lokoja.
He said that the deceased were identified as 20-year-old Bilikisu Tijani Eleojo (female) and Ibrahim Haliru (male).
Aya said that three students, Bilikisu Tijani Eleojo, Ibrahim Haliru and Mercy Ojochegbe had gone to bed with a running generating set place close to the apartment’s window while they slept.
The Police image maker said that the lifeless bodies of the deceased, who apparently died in their sleep, were reportedly discovered in the room by neighbours in the early hours of the day.
He explained that their friend and the third person in the room, Mercy Ojochegbe, was found unconscious but still breathing and was immediately rushed to the hospital while the smell of the generator fumes still lingered in the room.
The PPRO said that the incident was reported at the ‘B’ Division of the Nigeria Police Force in Lokoja adding that the Police has launched investigation into the matter with a view to ascertaining the remote and immediate cause.
Aya admonished residents using generators to prioritize their lives and be safety conscious by placing the generator in safe distance from their windows to avert carbon monoxide poisoning in their homes.
“People should be very careful once they are using a generator set in their homes. They should give it a distance and also it should not be close to the windows where they are living”, he said.
“Some may say because of the fear that people will come and steal the generator and won’t apply these safety precautions.
“It is wrong. It is when someone is alive that he or she will be able to accomplish things in this world. Safety should always be our watchword”, he said.