The Rector of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, Dr Moses Umobong has confirmed the death of Edidiong Monday who reportedly drowned in a river close to the institution last week.
Speaking to newsmen in Uyo on Sunday, Umobong said the student died in the river for refusing to adhere to warnings for all students to steer clear from the river.
Last Friday the campus of the institution in Ikot Ekpene local government area was thrown into mourning as the corpse of the 22-year-old undergraduate was floating in a river after he was declared missing by colleagues and searched for three days to no avail.
The deceased, a 200-level student in the Department of Electrical/Electronics Engineering was declared missing by friends for three days but later found dead floating in a village river close to the institution.
Reacting to the discovery of the body, some students said the deceased left the school without telling colleagues and when he failed to return, they called his friends at home and other places without response until Saturday morning when the Abiakpo community close to the school raised the alarm after they discovered his lifeless body floating in the river.
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But the Rector of the institution while reacting to the incident, attributed to disobedience to laid down rules of the institution which does not permit students to swim in the river close to the school.
“Well, I was just informed about the incident. You know when you tell students to remain on campus and they go about flouting laid down rules.
“So we don’t have any business with the river. The deceased was even an off-campus student and where he was living, there is a borehole there. So I don’t know what he (deceased) went there to do.
“I am told the father came and met with the villagers and he was buried at river according to their rites, if you die in the river, they bury you in the river,” he said.
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