Police Detain 2 UNIBEN Students Over Alleged Drowning Colleague

The police in Edo State have confirmed the detention of two University of Benin students, Samson Kennedy, a 200-level Biochemistry student, and Wilfred Emmanuel, a 500-level Optometry student, for allegedly conspiring to kill 23-year-old Francis Aniude, a final-year Chemistry student, by drowning him in the Ekosodin River.

The two students, who were supposed to be Aniude’s neighbors, allegedly invited him to the Ekosodin River on June 29, 2023, where he allegedly drowned, for sightseeing.

The two students were detained to assist the police in looking into the circumstances surrounding the death, according to SP Chidi Nwabuzor of the Edo State Police Command.

According to him, “The case has been reported long ago at the Ugbowo Police Station. Eventually,the Divisional Police Officer and his men led a team of local divers to the scene of the incident, luckily enough, they were able to recover the body. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigations. Two persons were arrested,the reason being that they went together to go and swim in that river when the ugly incident occured.

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“Arresting them is very very important,so that we can know what made them leave their hostel and went to that river at that point of time and what happened right there in the river.” He said.
However, an account from a student of the Department of Chemistry,who does not want his name in print said alleged that the two students remain the prime suspects. He said “Francis was drowned in the Ekosodin River, located in an off-campus community near the school on 29th of June and was declared missing, but his body was recovered by local divers in the community on Saturday July 1.

“The discovery of blood on his lips and peeled skin around his neck region raised suspicion amongst family members and relatives who are demanding for an autopsy.”

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