The Ogun State Police Command has confirmed that a young man, Sunday Ogah, drowned in Eyinwa River in the Odogbolu Local Government Area where he had gone to swim.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Omolola Odutola, said the incident happened on Saturday.
Odutola said police operatives and local divers had already begun combing the river for the drowned man’s corpse.
She explained that Ogah, an Igede man from Benue State, but resident in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, had followed his friend, Otusanya Abayomi of Igbe Ilara, Ikorodu, to Eyinwa community in Odogbolu.
According to the PPRO, while their brief stay lasted, Ogah was said to have left for the river without notifying his friend and drowned.
“It was a disheartening afternoon for people of Eyinwa Community in Odogbolu Local Government Area where one Otusanya Abayomi of Igbe Ilara Ikorodu, Lagos State, reported the incident at Odogbolu Divisional Police Station.
“He reported that at about 12:00 p.m. (Saturday) that he came with his friend, one Sunday Ogah an Igede man from Benue State, to his community.
“He stated further that his deceased friend left him and others to an unknown destination without notifying anyone.
“Information later got to him that the said Sunday Ogah had gone to swim at Eyinwa River where his friend got drown,” she said.
Odutola stated that upon the receipt of the information, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Odogbolu detailed surveillance officers in collaboration with local divers to locate the corpse, but their efforts proved abortive.
She said efforts were still ongoing to recover the corpse and further reach out to the family, to inform them of the sad occurrence.
The spokesperson reported the Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Alamutu, to have warned restive young persons to steer clear of rivers whose depth they could not predict.
Alamutu assured that the command remained committed to promoting public safety and preventing such tragedies in the future.
