Tragedy struck in Osogbo, the Osun state capital on Friday evening, when a yet to be identified boy got drowned in the Osun River.
The corpse was discovered by some teenagers in the area who reported the incident to the state command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
An eye witness, Mutiu Muftau, told Channels Television’s correspondent that the corpse was removed shortly after the attention of the NSCDC was drawn to it.
Muftau said: “When I was going to the farm in the morning, I saw some pupils beside the river telling me that there is a corpse in this river.
“I now moved closer to the place to see for myself. Later when we were sure that it was a human body, I went back home to call my mother who followed me to the civil defence office to report so they would know the necessary action to take and they came without delay.”
Speaking shortly after the removal of the corpse, the Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC, Afolabi Babawale, urged parents to keep a close watch on their children to avoid a recurrence of such.
Babawale said the incident was reported at about 1:00 p.m. and immediately, the Crisis Management unit took action. According to him, the body was found floating in the middle of the river and as at the time of filing this report, he said efforts were ongoing to identify the deceased.
“The teenager must have been dead for at least two or three days before his body floated on water.
“He should be between the ages of 14 and 15 years. We have contacted community leaders to help us to locate the parents of the deceased as well as arrange for his burial,” the spokesman said.