2 Students Drown In Ekiti River Swimming Expedition
Residents of Ureje area of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti state have been thrown into a state of mourning as two secondary schools students were drowned in a river during a swimming expedition.
A source who spoke to newsmen on the condition of anonymity on Sunday said that the two students died at a deeper portion of Ureje river, which stretched from Ajilosun and flowed down to Odo Ado area of the capital city.
According to a resident in the town, “The academic activities were ongoing on Friday when they left school. They went to the deeper side of Ureje river to swim and two of them were trapped in the mud and died.
“One of the survivors said though four of them jumped into the river before sensing that the two victims were no longer floating on the water.
“Those on the river cliff had to run to a farmer working around the river. It was the man who called on some swimmers, farming in the area to come and rescue two that were still afloat before bringing out those that were already dead”.
He added that the farmers later ran into the school compound at about noon to alert the school management and teachers on the incident, the development was said to have sparked cries and wailings among the staff and students.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Caleb Ikechukwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police who confirmed the incident said the corpses of the two students had been deposited in the morgue.
“We learnt the students went to the river to swim and got drowned. Their bodies had been taken to the mortuary”.
Ikechukwu said other students who were part of the swimming expedition would help the police in conducting a thorough investigation into the pathetic incident.
