Tragedy struck on Tuesday at Elegushi Beach, in the Lekki area of Lagos State, after four teenagers drowned while swimming in the water.
10 students who were said to be pupils of the Kuramo Senior College, Lekki went swimming at the beach to celebrate the completion of their West African Senior School Examination, WASSE.
The spokesperson for the Elegushi Beach Management, Chief Ayuba Elegushi, in a statement on Tuesday, said the pupils were not properly registered.
He noted that the incident happened at an unmanned section of the beach not open to the public.
He said, “We initially sent them away from the area of the beach they wanted to swim in. Then, they went to another place that was not for the public at all. It was the child of our kinsman, Abass, who took them from school to the beach and those kids followed him.
“They did not pay any gate fee to access the beach. Abass used the leverage that he was one of us to take them through another place.”
The victims were said to have raised the alarm as the water swept them away. Ayuba said some lifeguards plunged into the water and brought out six of the pupils.
“Out of the six that were rescued, some escaped by the time we got there. We were able to arrest two of them and we took them to the Jakande Police Station.
“As of now, there are still four missing as our seamen have not been able to bring them out of the water. We have informed their parents and they have come to the police station.
“Abass is one of the missing kids. There is another boy we have not identified and two other girls,” he added.
The spokesperson said the two boys that were arrested told the police that they were chased from the beach before sneaking into the restricted section to swim.
He said, “They wrote in their statements that they were chased from the first section they went to. Abass told them that they should not worry and he would take them to another part of the beach. He took them to another end of the beach where no one could see them.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
The PPRO confirmed the incident in a post shared on his verified Twitter page.
See the tweet below:
I’ve talked about drowning in relation to water travel and swimming pool. Still, parents/guardians, have a heart-to-heart talk with your teenagers to avoid losing them. Four teenagers drowned at a Lagos beach today, after collecting their exam results in school🙁. Take heed!
— SP Benjamin Hundeyin (@BenHundeyin) August 16, 2022
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