By Wilson Adekumola
The operatives of the Edo State Police have arrested two Undergraduate students of the University of Benin over the death of their 23-year-old colleague, one Francis Aniude.
The spokesperson to the Edo State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the incident said the suspects were arrested to help the police in investigating the circumstances behind the death of Aniude
The police gave the name of the two suspects as Wilfred Emmanuel, a 500-level student of the Optometry Department and Samson Kennedy, a 200-level student of the Biochemistry Department.
He said, “The case has been reported long ago at the Ugbowo Police Station.
“Eventually, the Divisional Police Officer and his men led a team of local divers to the scene of the incident, luckily enough, they were able to recover the body.
“The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigations.
“Two persons were arrested, the reason being that they went together to go and swim in that river when the ugly incident occurred.
“Arresting them is very important so that we (Police) can know what made them leave their hostel and went to that river at that point in time and what happened right there in the river.” He said
It was gathered that the deceased, who was a final year student of the Department of Chemistry, in the company of the two arrested suspects, went to a river located at Ekosidin village, where he allegedly drowned.
The suspects are said to be hostel neighbours with the Late. Francis Aniude who was said to have allegedly invited Aniude to the Ekosodin River for sightseeing on June 29, 2023.
It was alleged further that two suspects ran back to the school campus at Ugbowo in Benin to raise the alarm after the drowning of Aniude.
A student in the Department of Chemistry who preferred anonymity told journalists in Benin that, “Francis was drowned in the Ekosodin River, located in an off-campus community near the school on 29th of June.
“His body was recovered by local divers in the community on Saturday, July 1.
“The discovery of blood on his lips and peeled skin around his neck region raised suspicion amongst family members and relatives who are demanding an autopsy.” He said.
