A student at the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, has reportedly drowned in a boat mishap along the Warri River.
A caterer attached to the tertiary institution was also reported to have died in the private boat accident, bringing the number of suspected victims to two.
Sources said that the ill-fated boat capsized on Friday when the victims and other passengers were travelling from the university community to Warri.
It was gathered that aside the student and the caterer, other students who boarded the private boat survived the accident.
One of the students who survived the boat mishap disclosed that some of the passengers, including locals, were not wearing life jackets and did not know how to swim.
The source, who did not want his name in print, noted that bodies of the deceased were later recovered by local divers.
Our correspondent gathered that the deceased student, an Ijaw by tribe, was said to have been buried by his family on Friday evening, while the corpse of the caterer was deposited at the Warri Central Hospital.
Confirming the incident to journalists, a top official of the university said that the boat driver had been arrested by marine police operatives.
The official, who declined to be mentioned in this report, remarked that the deceased “boarded a private boat against the school rule that students and staff should only make use of school-owned boats and any other provided by management to ferry students to Warri.
“It was on their way going that the boat capsized. Unfortunately, one of our students and caterer drowned in the process.
“We don’t know exactly what happened, but the boat driver is already answering questions from Police.
“The school has never recorded a case of boat mishap since we commenced academic activities through our boats.”
The Police Public Relations Officer for Delta State Command, DSP Bright Edafe, could not be reached for comment on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
