Two students of the University of Benin, Edo State, Samson Kennedy and Wilfred Emmanuel, are in police net.
The suspects.are being interrogated by the police and being interrogated over the death of their colleague, Francis Aniude, who got drowned in Ekosodin River near the university’s Ugbowo campus.
Confirming the arrest of the suspects, the Edo State Police Command’s spokesperson, Chidi Nwabuzor, in a statement, said the victim’s corpse had been recovered from the river by the local divers.
According to him, the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death are being investigated by the police.
Explaining that the case was reported at the Ugbowo Police Station, Nwabuzor explained that the Divisional Police Officer and his men led a team of local divers to the scene of the incident.
He said: “Luckily enough, they were able to recover the body. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigations.
“Two persons were arrested because they went together to swim in that river when the ugly incident occurred. Arresting them is very important so that we can know what made them leave their hostel and go to that river at that time and what happened right there in the river.”
Also, the deceased’s friend, who would not want his name in print, said the suspects invited Aniude for a swim in the river on the day, June 29, he drowned and died.
He said: “After Aniude got drowned, his two friends ran back to the Ekosodin community to seek help from the community and vigilance members but the deceased died before help could come his way.
“The corpse was recovered from the river on July 1 by local divers. The two students were arrested following the discovery of blood on the deceased’s lips and peeled skin around his neck region which raised suspicion amongst family members and relatives who are demanding an autopsy.”