- Police arrest deceased’s friends
A300 level student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Emmanuel Fatile, last Sunday lost his life while swimming inside the pool of a hotel located in the town.
Fatile of the Department of Pharmacy had visited the hotel (names withheld) in Ife in the evening in company with two of his friends before the incident occurred.
The undergraduate and his two friends had earlier swam in the pool, but feeling that he had yet to have enough fun, Fatile decided to return into the pool as his friends made to leave the hotel.
But a few minutes after he dived into the swimming pool, tragedy struck! He drowned! An eyewitness revealed that Fatile, popularly known as Max on campus, was earlier told by his two friends to leave the pool, but he appealed to them to allow him to swim for some more minutes.
After about 10 minutes, Fatile’s body was observed floating in the pool and his friends made frantic efforts to pull him out of the water.
He was brought out from the pool unconscious and was rushed to the university teaching hospital in the town, where he was confirmed dead by a doctor.
The eyewitness, who preferred anonymity, said, “They (Fatile and his two friends) visited one Hilton Hotel on Sunday to enjoy themselves. They swam and were set to leave the hotel, when the deceased said that he wanted to swim once more. His friends tried to stop him, but he insisted because he was a good swimmer. But unknown to them, he won’t come out alive.”
The President of the OAU Students’ Union, Mr. Ibukun Oyekan, confirmed the incident, saying that Fatile’s remains had been deposited at the OAU Teaching Hospital morgue.
Meanwhile, the Police at Moore Division have arrested the deceased’s two friends and had since Sunday put them behind bars.
But the student union president, who said he had visited the police station, assured that the SUG was making plans towards ensuring the release of Fatile’s friends from police custody.
According to him, the university had been thrown into mourning.
He added that the deceased student was somebody he knew personally.
“It is a very devastating occurrence and we are mourning, as I am speaking with you. We are also making efforts to see to the release of our colleagues in police detention. After our mourning period, we are going to take the hotel up for failing to provide life jacket to the student before he died in their swimming pool, because what we learnt was that the hotel does not have life jackets,” Oyekan said.
They (Fatile and his two friends) visited one Hilton Hotel on Sunday to enjoy themselves. They swam and were setto leave the hotel, when the deceased said that he wanted to swim once more. His friends tried to stop him, but he insisted because he was a good swimmer. But unknown to them, he won’t come out alive
