death: Boy, 15, Drowns In Construction Firm’s Pool In Ebonyi

It was a sad story yesterday in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, when the lifeless body of a 15-year-old secondary school boy simply identified as Tony was recovered from a pool constructed by a construction company working at the International Market, Abakaliki where they access water for the construction work.

The young boy, according to

investigation, had gone to the pool which usually overflows each time it rains to swim with his school mates before the unfortunate incident happened.

It was gathered that it took the combined effort of divers and security guards in the market to recover the body of the boy three days after unsuccessful attempts.

Tony, a JSS 3 student, lived with his foster parent at 19, Nwoji Avenue, off Ogbaga road, Abakaliki.

He was said to have left his school in company of other students who were asked to go home for not paying school fees.

Rather than go home, the students chose to enter the International Market located along the ever-busy Abakaliki-Ogoja Express road to swim in the pool.

The disappearance of the boy shortly after jumping into the pool led to his mates alerting security guards in the area who contacted the police.

Narrating the incident, the foster parent, Mrs Silvia Ede explained that she was informed about the tragedy by one of her relatives, noting that the victim had no reason to leave school at the time he did as she had provided him with all the necessary requirements.

Another family member of the victim, Mrs Josephine Eze, said that it was after policemen and fire fighters drafted to the scene failed to recover the body that they resorted to divers.

Expressing their sadness over the unfortunate incident, some residents of the area called on the state government to close the pool or put a fence round it to forestall a recurrence.

The diver, Mallam Mohammed Bello, however said recovering the body would not have been possible if not for some rituals which he carried out at the pool.

The police public relations officer in the state, Mr. George Okafor, said that the command was aware of the incident.

At the time of filing this report, the body of the young boy was still lying at the pool side while sympathisers thronged the area.