LIVING WITH FUMES OF DEATH: MORE NIGERIANS DYING FROM INHALING GENERATOR FUMES

in the still of the night, it sneaked in quietly and lingered dangerously for hours.

With every breath intake, the deadly gas known as carbon monoxide, found in fumes from generators as well as in car exhausts, sucked lives out of its hapless victims who were fast asleep.

This was what happened on May 28, when Mrs. Chinyere Celestine, and four of her children were found dead in their home off Goodnews Street, in Azikoro suburb, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

They were said to have died in their sleep that night, while the generator was still on.

The father of the children and husband of Chinyere, identified as Celestine, who was said to be in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when the tragedy occurred, had called a neighbour when he could not reach his wife on telephone the next day. After several attempts to wake the victims, the neighbour raised the alarm that compelled other neighbours to force the door open. They found the victims’ lifeless bodies.

A similar incident happened on January 3, when death shattered the usual early morning quietude of Robiyan, a sleepy town near Ijoko in Ifo Local Government, Ogun State.

On that fateful day, residents discovered the lifeless bodies of an 80 year-old woman, identified as Madam Kuburat, and her four grandchildren, including a toddler, in a newly completed house. The generator, which was placed in the veranda of the house, was left running all night while the doors and windows were locked.

The traditional ruler of the area, Chief Olu Kujore, remembers the incident vividly. “It was generator fumes that killed them. I was still on my bed when the people living in that area came to me in the early hours of that morning. So I dressed up and followed them. When we got there, I saw all the doors and windows of the building locked. I got the boys who followed me there to force the doors and windows open. In fact, when they forced it open, we who were outside felt the gas as it blew towards our direction. The boys then opened the front and back door, and even had to use rags to cover their noses because of the fumes,” he recollected with a tinge of sadness.

Today, the building lies desolate.

Different accounts of what could have caused their death were rife with some residents insinuating that it could have been caused by evil spirits. But the Divisional Police Officer of Agbado Police Station, Mr. Okere Daniel, put paid to all the rumours when he earlier told PUNCH correspondents that he suspected it could have been fumes from a generator.

“From the physical examination of the victims, it is obvious that they must have died of carbon monoxide. They were all foaming from the mouth; this means that they must have been gasping for breath. A similar thing happened at Obadofin in 2010, when I was a DPO at Alafia. A whole family was wiped off. It was during a festive period like this; they turned on the generator and locked it up inside the house for use overnight,” he had said.

When the AMEBO,S contacted him on phone, Daniel said there was no further development on the case as the family did not suspect a foul play.

“The investigation almost ended at the point where we took the victims to the hospital and the post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of death. Carbon monoxide is something that can kill instantly,” he said.

There have been similar cases reported in the area since then. In April, three men – Wale Ola, Saka Adeosun and Kadiri Akanbi, all died in their sleep after inhaling the fumes from the generator which was left running at 109 Alakuko Road, Akera, Agbado, Ogun State, a welder’s shop where the victims were apprentices.

These deaths are not restricted to private homes. In July 2008, scores of people died at a prayer meeting in Isiala-Ngwa, Abia State, after breathing in fumes from the generator while asleep.

Experts have described deaths caused by inhaling the poisonous fumes from generators as asphyxiation, which according to Wikipedia, ‘is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally.’

“We call it an asphyxia death, resulting from the lack of oxygen. It is like when you are choked through strangulation, but this time around (in the case of generator fumes) you don’t feel it. Strangulation, which is the inability to breathe in oxygen, is similar to what happens with asphyxiation or death caused by generator fumes; where oxygen is depleted and there is more of carbon monoxide,” explained Dr. Sunday Soyemi, a pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

He further explained that a cherry red appearance of organs during autopsy is an indication that asphyxiation was the likely cause of death.

“Apart from that, there is what we call the fluidity of the blood, when it looks as if the blood was diluted with water, and without a single clot.

“There are other factors, but those are the two striking ones. Once you see these two factors on the autopsy table, the first thing you suspect is asphyxiation generally,” he added.

Dr. Soyemi also stated that carbon monoxide from generator fumes was just one cause of asphyxiation, explaining that other causes, including hanging, manual strangulation, less blood circulation in the body, drug overdose and drowning could also lead to asphyxiation.

A toxicologist and senior lecturer in the department of pharmacology, LASUTH, Dr. Kayode Yemitan, also explained that the inhalation of carbon monoxide, no matter the concentration, is toxic.

“It is a silent killer because you can’t smell, taste, feel or see it most of the time. It just keeps accumulating in the system, especially through the lungs. It causes its havoc when it enters into the blood stream, until the person becomes unconscious. It is an instant killer, especially when the concentration is high, as it affects the blood stream immediately. This is because carbon monoxide has a higher affinity than oxygen to the haemoglobin in the red blood cells and so forms carboxy-haemoglobin. This displaces the oxygen and prevents the blood from carrying out its functions, including transporting oxygen around the body. That leads to death,” he said.

Aside the health dangers posed by the use and abuse of generators at homes, Dr. Yemitan also expressed fears over the level of carbon monoxide concentration in some industries where the health and safety of workers are not properly being looked into.

He said, “The workers should be educated properly to know what to do, especially in places where fumes are being generated for a long period of time. Another problem is that regulations on the distance between factories and residential quarters are not well enforced in Nigeria,” he said.

While there are no accurate statistics on the number of deaths in Nigeria annually, experts believe it is quite high. According to Dr. Soyemi, autopsy reports have shown between twenty five and thirty deaths linked to generator fumes in the last one year, while in the last four months, there have been seven recorded cases at LASUTH.

In terms of state-wide or national statistics, Dr. Yemitan said the figures could be higher as some of these deaths are not reported because some families bury their dead immediately or refuse to present them for autopsy for religious, social or personal reasons.

According to him, the more generators Nigerians buy, the higher the risk of inhaling their fumes. Nigeria imports the highest number of generators and spends about N2tn on generators annually.

According to the Director-General of Centre for Management Development, Dr Kabir Usman, 60 million Nigerians spend N1.6tn on generators annually.

“Currently, there are about 60 million generators in Nigeria at the ratio of one per household of 2.5 people with an annual spending of N1.6 trillion,” he said last year at the launch of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria graduate skills development programme  in Abuja.

This is the more reason why Ehi Iden, an Occupational Health and Safety expert, is of the opinion that the public needs to be better educated on the dangers of leaving their generators too close to their rooms.

“Aside from the effect of fumes, you are also exposed to the risk of explosion and fire outbreak. Not only that, the noise generated by these generators alone is sometimes more than the acceptable global noise decibel limit, which is 80 decibels. Living in that condition for too long could lead to even more serious health issues, like hearing impairment. Not only does it affect the health, these fumes also go into the air and cause the depletion of the ozone layer, which contributes to climate change,” explained Iden.

“Carbon monoxide is highly poisonous and takes over the areas in  the  body  system  that  should  have been occupied  by  oxygen. That’s why a victim has difficulty in breathing. Don’t leave the generator running in an enclosed place, whether close to the door, at the corridor or inside the living room,” he added.

Leaving one’s generator running for too long also has its general security risk, he warned.

“I read a story many years ago, where robbers succeeded in robbing a residential estate because the generators were left running throughout the night and nobody could hear the screams of the victims. It is advisable to turn off your generator by say 11pm or 12 midnight if you turn it on by 6pm. Don’t leave it till morning. There is still natural air ventilation. Don’t because you want to get maximum sleeping comfort court danger and cause noise pollution in your environment. Which is easier, to die or cope with the situation and preserve your life?” he asked.

Apart from the fact that the country’s power sector is in dire straits, the use of the generators has also become a defining factor of the economic status of individuals or households in both rural and urban areas.

More so, it is affordable for many across the economic divide as they come in different shapes, sizes and prices.

“There is also the euphoria of buying generators. Once you are able to get it, you want to show your people that you have it, and in order to prevent people from stealing it, you are tempted to put it inside the house while it is still switched on,” he said.

Iden added that people should avoid opening the fuel tank to refill it while the generator is still running or using their mobile telephones as torchlight while carrying out any repair or maintenance work.

“It is one of the most hazardous things I’ve seen Nigerians do. The telephone has a level of radiation and is highly inflammable. I’ve seen it happen in Port Harcourt where someone was burnt beyond recognition,” he noted.

Back in Robiyan, Kujore hopes a such an incident would not be recorded in his community. “I told all the Community Development Association chairmen and chiefs in the community to tell their people not to leave their generators on while they are fast asleep. We have been hearing and reading about how it kills. Now we know it is dangerous to put it in the house,” he said.

He seems to be practising what he preached, as the faint sound of a generator could be heard outside his palace. “I put my generator outside because generator fumes are killers. I buy N7,000 worth of petrol every week because I’m a baale and my palace should not be in darkness. So I have a small and big generator because of the visitors I host daily. I use the small one in the morning and the big one at night so that I would have electricity. It’s not that I have the money, but I’m supposed to do it,” he said.

He also told SUNDAY PUNCH that his community had never in its history enjoyed electricity supply from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, except in some areas close to the Ijoko area.

Beyond creating awareness and the nonchalant attitude of many Nigerians towards safety measures, the use of generators has become a ‘necessary evil,’ especially with the poor state of power supply in the country, noted Iden.

“If we must occupy our place in the comity of nations, we must look inward and reform the power/energy sector. People come to Nigeria and wonder what kind of fumes we generate in this country. It’s a shame we have to live with this until the government decides to take responsibility and ensure that Nigeria is more habitable for everyone,” he said, while noting that a better electricity supply would reduce the hazards and risks Nigerians are exposed to daily by using generators.

Presently, the country generates less than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, barely enough to meet the needs of over 160 million people. According to Dr. Yemitan, from periodic tests carried out on some patients at LASUTH, the lung functions of many Nigerians seem to be reducing, most likely as a result of inhaling noxious gases like carbon monoxide in the atmosphere.

“Carbon monoxide is the major one. But there are many other culprits like oxides of sulphur, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulphide, but maybe not to the extent of carbon monoxide” he noted and added that headaches, nausea, and extreme dizziness, are warning signs that carbon monoxide may have accumulated in the body over a period of time.

Except for a few who can afford to buy inverters, which do not produce deadly pollutants, millions of Nigerians may have no other choice but to keep using their generators daily in their homes and industries and live with the health consequences, maybe not immediately, but in years to come.