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Two students drown in FUTA pond when snapping selfie 

By Oluwaseun Akingboye, Akure 
03 July 2017   |   4:31 am
Two undergraduates of the Federal University of Technology Akure, (FUTA) identified as Emmanuel Olabiyi and Babatunde Alex Olokun, have drowned at the institution’s laboratory for Fishery and Aquaculture. 

Colleagues rescuing the deceased on Saturday

Two undergraduates of the Federal University of Technology Akure, (FUTA) identified as Emmanuel Olabiyi and Babatunde Alex Olokun, have drowned at the institution’s laboratory for Fishery and Aquaculture.

Olabiyi was a 300-Level student of the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Engineering, while Olokun, was a penultimate student from the Department of Project Management Technology.

The deceased had gone in the company of two other students to the fish pond situated at Obakekere area of the campus for their compulsory Entrepreneurship Training course on Saturday, boarding a canoe.

The Guardian learnt that the canoe capsized when they were trying to snap some pictures and “selfies” with their mobile phones.

FUTA Head of Information and Protocol, Mr. Adebanjo Adegbenro, confirmed the incident yesterday in Akure, describing the death of the two students as an unfortunate accident.

“Immediately it happened, we took steps to ameliorate the situation. The most important thing was to contact their parents and ensure that measures are taken not to cause panic within the parent body.

Adegbenro disclosed that the Dean of Students Affairs, Prof. Kayode Alese, was on top of the situation to rescue the victims immediately it occurred.

According to him, one died instantly in the pond while the other one was rescued out of the pond but later gave up when trying to resuscitate him; the other two were able to swim out of the pond to safety.

Meanwhile, the Students Union Government (SUG) of the institution has commiserated with families of the victims and university community at large.

The SUG president, Adeyinka Olaseinde, urged calmness among the students and implored them to pray for the repose of the deceased, saying “with our heart full of pains, we announce the demise of two of our colleagues.”

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