Three primary school children drown in Ebonyi

Three children on Tuesday drowned at the Ebia River in Egugwu, Agbaja in Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
An eyewitness, who preferred anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the children were living in the same compound at 19, Ikechukwu Ogbaga Street, Abakaliki.
The source said that two of the children were in primary six, while the other one was in primary three at Egugwu Agbaja Primary School.
The eyewitness said: “The deceased, Kingsley Nwenyi, 12 years; Obinna Nwenyi, 6 years; and Somtochukwu Ogbonna, 11 years, were drowned when they went to swim at the river after school.
“The first person jumped into the river and did not come out and the other two followed suit and were also drowned.
“One of the pupils who also followed them to the river refused to jump into river and after some time when he did not see them, he raised the alarm that attracted the attention of villagers who came to the rescue but did not succeed.”
The mother of the two deceased brothers Kingsley and Obinna is a widow with nine children, while Somtochukwu was the last born of four children of the family.
When contacted, the Ebonyi State Command Police Public Relations Officer, Chris Anyanwu (ASP), said that he heard about the incident but that he was yet to receive formal information on the incident.