Two Secondary Students Who Sneaked Out Of School To Swim, Drowns In Ekiti River

Two secondary school students who sneaked out of their school for a swimming expedition on Friday, died inside Ureje river in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

The 13-year-old and 15-year-old were students of Ado Grammar school located along Ado-Ijan- Ikare Akoko.

A source told newsmen on Sunday, that the two students were among seven pupils, who were said to have scaled the fence of their school and gone for the swimming expedition.

Four of the pupils had jumped into a deeper portion of Ureje river, which stretched from Ajilosun and flowed to Odo Ado region of the capital city, only to discover that two others were nowhere to be found, hence they raised the alarm.

“The academic works were ongoing 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,” the source said.

“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.”

The sources added that the farmers later ran into the school compound at about noon to report the incident to the teachers, evoking cries and wailings among the staff and students.

When called for confirmation, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, said the corpses of the dead 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 thorough investigation into the pathetic incident.