Students drown during excursion

Five out of 73 students of a private secondary school; Victory Schools Kaduna that went on an excursion in River Kaduna, Kaduna state, drowned on Wednesday morning October 11, 2017.  The five students; four males and one female drowned at around 11 am in the course of the excursion in the area, Sahara reporters said. 

River Kaduna is the boundary that separates Hausa-Fulani in the north and Southern Kaduna ethnic groups in the south.

They were said to have arrived the Kaduna State Water Board pump station, located around the Railway Station axis of Kaduna metropolis at about 11am on Wednesday accompanied by two staff of the school.

The affected victims are SSS 2 students: four males and one female namely; Priscilla Romania (female), Goodness Aromilade, Monday Umahi, Joseph Benedict and David Ukegbu, all said to be between the ages of 14 and 16.

At the scene of the incident, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Kakuri Division, CSP Benshak W. Dakyer who came with his men, explained that he was not in position to speak on the matter, saying he was yet to brief the State Police Command Headquarters.

He explained that the school officially wrote to the management of the facility that they were coming for an excursion and it was approved.

“We learnt that they did a follow up on Tuesday, a day before the unfortunate incident and it was confirmed that they could come,” he added.

He explained that other formations along the flow of the river have been alerted to watch out for the missing children, pointing out that initially 10 students were drowned but five were rescued, treated and discharged from hospital.

According to one of the victims, who was rescued after the boat capsized, the guide never told them the crane that controls the boat was not able to support heavy weight and that may have resulted to the breaking of the connecting metals holding the frames.

He said that he escaped narrowly by clinging unto one of the iron supports after the boat capsized.

“I then managed to come out by swimming. My friends were also trying to come out but the pressure of the water was much, so they could not,” he added.