Two children drown in a river in Cross River

By Frank Ulom

Two children (name withheld) have drowned in a river in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State.

CONVERSEER learned that the children, whose father is a Police officer drowned last week Friday in the Akasom River, connecting Obudu and Obanliku Local Government Areas in Cross River and the Aya River in Benue State.

According to CrossRiverWatch, the children were residing with their father, a Nigeria Police officer (name unknown) along Bishiri road in Obudu.

The police officer who works at the Obanliku Divisional Police headquarters was said to have travelled early last week and left the children in the care of their aunt.

According to the report, the two children left the compound and went to bathe at the Akasom River without anyone’s notice.

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They were suspected to have drowned on Friday with their bodies recovered more than 24 hours later on Saturday.

“I just came back from a journey and was asked about the children and I had no idea,” a neighbour of the mother who is also a police officer could be heard telling a community leader in video clips obtained by CrossRiverWatch.

She explained that someone had tried to fish and spotted the hand of one of the kids. “The person ran away and abandoned the net. It was later on that another told us in passive that he heard two kids had drowned but was not willing to divulge further information for fear of arrests.”

In the video below, which has been edited to remove certain sensitive scenes, people can be seen gathered near the small river which measures less than two meters deep.

A relative of the kids can also be seen near their corpses, speechless while bystanders share sympathies mostly in Bette.

CONVERSEER reports that drowning is common during this time of the year in the state, with most cases reported in swimming pools and rivers in Calabar, Ogoja, Obudu, and other Local Government Areas.