Two young men, suspected of being Federal Polytechnic Nekede students, drowned in the Otammiri River in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.
The incident was reported to have occurred on Saturday, when the victims and some friends went swimming in the river.
An eyewitness told Punch that a group of young men went to the river to swim and take photos.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed that a local resident had warned them against swimming, especially since it was late, but they allegedly ignored the advice.
According to the source, the victims later swam into the deeper part of the river, lost their footing and drowned.
The President of the Student Union Government of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Destiny Nwosu, confirmed that two persons drowned in the river, but said it had not been established whether they were students of the institution.
“Yes, I heard that two people drowned at the Otammiri River, but up until now, we have not confirmed that they were students of our school,” Nwosu said.
“For now, I cannot confirm whether they were Nekede Federal Polytechnic students or from other institutions in the state, or even if they were students at all.”
Similarly, the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Dr Ike Ibe, said the school management was not aware of the incident.
“The school management is not aware of such an incident,” he said.
Also reacting, the President of the National Association of Imo State Students, Federal Polytechnic Nekede chapter, Daniel Promise, said he became aware of the incident through a video circulating on social media.
“I saw the video on social media, but up till now, we have not confirmed that they were students of our school. No coursemate or anyone has confirmed that the victims were our students,” he said.
However, sources claimed that one of the victims was identified as a National Diploma I Computer Science student, Chukwudi Okwuchukwu, while the second victim, identified simply as Igwilo, was reportedly a friend to one of the four people who went swimming.