Secondary school pupils found floating on Osun River

The residents of the Ijetu area of Osogbo have been thrown into mourning following the discovery of the corpses of two pupils on the Osun River.

It was gathered that a woman had gone to the river to fetch water when she found the corpses of the two pupils floating on the river.

A resident of the area told our correspondent on Thursday that the woman dropped her bucket and ran back to the community where she raised the alarm.

It was learnt that the matter was later reported to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and a rescue team from the agency was deployed in the scene.

It was gathered that the pupils had gone missing on Monday, while their parents and other relatives had been looking for them.

The parents were said to have broken down in tears on seeing the corpses of their children on Wednesday when their bodies were recovered.

The pupils were identified as Samson Obasanjo and Kabiru, pupils of Junior Secondary School 2 at Ife-Oluwa Middle School, Osogbo.

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Some persons said one of the two victims was going to a bakery where he normally worked after school hours when the incident happened.

But our correspondent, who visited the school gathered that seven pupils had gone to the area where the incident happened to pluck some fruits.

One of the victims was said to have jumped inside the river to swim to the other side of the river where a cherry tree was, but did not come out.

It was learnt that after a while,the second victim reportedly jumped inside the river to see why the first had not come out and he too disappeared.

The remaining five pupils were said to have waited for the two victims to come out, but after the duo did not come out, they were said to have sworn to an oath that they would not disclose what happened to their colleagues to anybody.

A resident of the area told our correspondent that students of the school and other public schools around the area were known for truancy.

The Head, Disaster Rescue Team of the NSCDC in Osun State, Mr. Olufemi Awofade, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, said the team had removed the corpses of the pupils.

He said after recovering the corpses of the pupils, their parents took charge and called the worshipers of Osun goddess to perform some rites on them before burial at the riverbank.

Awofade said, “We got a call that a certain woman went to fetch water at the Osun River on Wednesday and she saw corpses on the water.”

The principals of School 2 and School 3 at Ife-Oluwa Middle School declined comment.The two principals told our correspondent, who visited the school, that “we don’t grant press interviews.”