Two students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, lost their lives on Saturday at the institution’s laboratory for fishery and aquaculture, after the canoe they were in capsized.
The students were identified as Olabiyi Emmanuel, and Olokun Babatunde Alex, who were both 300-level students of the Departments of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering and Project Management Technology respectively.
The bodies of the students were retrieved from the lake by officials of the Ondo State Fire Service.
According to the report by Premium Times, Public Relations Officer of the FUTA Students Union, Fowowe Ayomide, indicated in a press statement that the students drowned at the place behind the Great Hall, Obakekere.
The statement also said the accident occurred after a students’ entrepreneurship training, ENT, at the laboratory for fishery and aquaculture.
“After the training, four of them decided to take a selfie on the canoe packed at the venue, during that process, the canoe which the four of them were in capsized,” Mr. Ayomide said.
“They drowned inside the water, and two of them narrowly escaped because they were able to swim, while the other two found it difficult to swim which led to their death.”
The union urged all students to pay their last respect to their colleagues who lost their lives in the incident, while praying for the repose of the departed.