The management of the University of Port Harcourt has placed a ban on swimming in the institution’s swimming pool.
According to the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Owunari Abraham Georgewill, the ban followed the death of a year-one student of the Rivers State University (RSU), simply identified as ‘Emmanuel’ who drowned at the institution’s swimming pool on Sunday.
The VC in a statement made available to reporter in Port Harcourt on Monday described the incident as unfortunate.
According to him, “We wish to inform all staff and students that the University of Port Harcourt swimming pool is an Olympic size swimming pool and henceforth we are placing a ban on pleasure swimming in the pool.”
“Kindly bear with us as this is done to forestall further unfortunate incidents as it happened yesterday Sunday 12th September 2021. We lost a student of Rivers State University who came to swim for leisure with his three friends.”
The deceased, Emmanuel, an undergraduate of the Department of Marine Engineering at the Rivers State University, we learnt, drowned while swimming at the UNIPORT’s swimming pool in the company of three friends.
Eye witness account revealed that “One of them, on sensing that the guy has died, told the others that his mother was calling him, and he would like to go and see her, then, took off.”
Meanwhile, the remains of the late Emmanuel, we gathered has since been deposited at University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital morgue, while the two other guys have been reportedly arrested and detained at the Choba police station for questioning.
The Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Nnamdi Omoni is yet to respond to calls and messages to his mobile number on this matter as at press time.
