A 12-year-old boy, Clinton Kadiri, has drowned in a community river in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State.
Southern City News gathered that Clinton had accompanied his friends to swim in the river located in Oluku on Friday before he met his tragic death.
Tragedy struck when the deceased lost his balance as he tried to advance towards a deeper part of the river and drowned in the process.
Some divers in the area had searched for the remains of the deceased for about an hour before it was found and wrapped in piece of white cloth.
The incident also drew the attention of residents of Iguosa Housing Estate, including the parents of the late boy, who gathered at the scene as divers swam through the river in search of his victim.
One of the friends of the boy, who was said to have gone to the river with the victim, Lucky Osazuwa, said the lad advanced to the deeper side of the river.
He said the victim later drowned when he could not find his way out and after efforts to rescue him were unsuccessful.
Osazuwa said, “We tried to persuade him not to go ahead to swim in that part, but before we could convince him, he removed his clothes and jump into the river. I tried to rescue him but I lost grip of his leg. That was what happened.”
But the father of the deceased, Mr. Lucky Kadiri, who was visibly disturbed, wondered why his son’s friends, who had been with Kadiri at the time of the incident, kept mute over his death.
He said, “Three of them went to the river that day, but one of his friends said he (Clinton) lost balance and started drowning.
“They said that they went to call someone to help them to rescue him, but they could not find him when they returned to the river. But they refused to say anything that day until the police came.”
Efforts by our correspondent to contact the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Stephen Onwochei, to speak on the matter were unsuccessful. Several calls to his telephone were unanswered while a text message sent to his line was not replied at the time of filing this report on Sunday.
It was, however, learnt that Osazuwa had been arrested by the police while the corpse of the victim had been deposited in a mortuary.
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