Jos — As four-year-old Goodness Gambo lie in a hospital facing the new reality of having to live the rest of her life without one of her arms, her traumatized family said yesterday that it was consulting with its lawyers on the propriety of suing the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) for negligence

Goodness and her seven-year-old sister, Faith Gambo, were electrocuted penultimate Sunday in the Kabong area of Jos metropolis by fallen high tension line of the PHCN. Faith was electrocuted while Goodness whose one arm has had to be amputated also as a result of the electrocution is currently being attended to at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BUTH) in Jos.

The parents of Faith and Goodness were said to be still too shocked to discuss the incident but a representative of the family, Mr. Gideon Nandem Tyem, told Daily Trust yesterday that members of the family were consulting their lawyers on how best to seek justice for the girls.

But PHCN released a counter-statement on Tuesday, saying that the high tension lines that broke on Sunday, May 27, were due to heavy storms the previous day and that the storm did not trip the line through which the PHCN control would have sensed any danger.

The statement by the PHCN Public Affairs Manager, Isah Ibrahim Rafee, said although the area was difficult to reach, his staff quickly swung to action on Sunday when they realized the problem but that the damage had already been done.