Happy New Year to all of you. We were told about problems people have had with generators in Nigeria and we decided to do a search in the Nigerian papers to confirm if these problems were common. This is what we found. A disturbing trend that we hope to help our readers avoid.

Read some excerpts below.

“RECENTLY, a new-wed couple choked to death from generator fumes in their new home on the outskirt of Calabar, Cross River State. Around the same time, in Ibadan, Oyo State, a 69-year-old man passed away along with seven other members of his family after they were overcome by fumes from a portable generator that was running on the first floor of their home. Reports indicated that the level of fumes inside the home was three times the danger limit.

Prior to this incident, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, two teenagers died from generator fumes poisoning because the generator they were using to power ceiling fans was too close to the room in which they slept. Much later, in Agege area of Lagos State, a middle aged man who was running a generator in his basement died in his sleep when the generator fumes infiltrated his bedroom.

In yet another incidence somewhere on the Lagos mainland, a 30-year-old man who went to bed with his family while a generator was running in his garage, also died along with them as a result of the close proximity of the device. In Abuja, between June 2012 and March 2013, four people died in separate incidents as a result of poisoning from generator fumes.” Vanguard October 9,2013.

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