Police detain friends of student who died inside UNIPORT swimming pool

Friends of a student of Rivers State University of Science and Technology who died inside the swimming pool of the University of Port Harcourt, Choba have been detained by the Choba Division of the Nigerian Police.

Sources knowledgeable in the matter told TPCN that the three friends have been detained since yesterday.

The student simply identified as Emmanuel was said to be at the swimming pool with about three of his friends when he died after sustaining a head injury.

It was alleged that the deceased was pushed by his friends into a shallow part of the pool where he hit his head on the pool floor and died.

The sources said his corpse has been deposited at the morgue while his friends are in police custody.

Meanwhile, the management of the institution has banned swimming at the pool following the incident.

Prof Owunari Abraham Georgewill, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution in a statement said: “We wish to inform all staff and students that the University of Port Harcourt swimming pool is an Olympic size swimming pool and henceforth we are placing a ban on pleasure swimming in the pool.

“Kindly bear with us as this is done to forestall further unfortunate incidents as it happened yesterday Sunday 12th September 2021. We lost a student of Rivers State University who came to Swim for leisure with his three friends”.