Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Two 100-level students of the Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, have reportedly drowned in River Benue.
The deceased, a boy and a girl, whose names were given as Adakole Christopher and Mson Emmanuella, were said to have gone with some friends to play football by the river side behind the school when the incident happened.
Christopher, it was gathered, was from the Computer Science Department, while Emmanuella was from the College of Health Sciences of the institution.
Reports said the incident happened on Friday, at about 6p.m, besides BSU water works, an area close to the river side that looks like a beach.
The students were said to have visited the area alongside three other students, all friends, to play football and enjoy the cool weather at the river side without notifying the school management through the security unit.
One of the five students who went on that illfated voyage said after they were done playing football, they all decided to swim. The student added that while they were at it, a strong current started pulling them deeper into the river.
He said three of them managed to swim back to shore, but the two could not make it , as they got drowned despite frantic efforts to rescue them.
When they couldn’t rescue their friends, they ran back to campus and raised the alarm which further attracted other people as well as the security unit of the institution to the scene.
The university authorities, through the security unit, it was learnt, immediately launched a search and rescue operation to find the two missing students.