Four students Celebrating WASSCE at Lagos Beach Drown
Tragedy struck on Tuesday at Elegushi Beach in the Lekki area of Lagos State, after four teenagers drowned while swimming.
According to PUNCH Metro, 10 secondary school leavers, aged between 14 and 15, visited the beach to celebrate the completion of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) organised by the West African Examinations Council.
The students were identified as pupils of Kuramo Senior College, Lekki.
The spokesperson for the beach management, Ayuba Elegushi, said in a statement that the teenagers were not properly registered and had accessed an unmanned and restricted section of the beach.
“We initially sent them away from the area they wanted to swim in. Later, they went to another part of the beach that is not open to the public. One of them, Abass, who is related to our people here, brought them in through another route,” he said.
He added that the group did not pay any gate fee and used an unauthorised access point.
According to him, when the teenagers were swept away by the waves and raised the alarm, lifeguards were able to rescue six of them.
“Out of the six that were rescued, some escaped before we arrived. We arrested two of them and took them to the Jakande Police Station,” Elegushi said.
He confirmed that four students were still missing at the time of the report.
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The two arrested students reportedly told the police that after being chased from the main beach area, they were taken by Abass to another secluded section where no one could see them.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident.
“The teenagers were from Kuramo Senior College, Lekki. Four of them — two males and two females — are missing. Efforts are ongoing to recover their bodies,” he said, adding that investigations had commenced.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Waterways Authority, Saheed Adesanya, said the agency would verify the incident and respond accordingly.
