Four Students of Kuramo Senior College, Lekki drowned while swimming at Elegushi Beach in Lagos State on Tuesday.
It was learnt that the victims were two males and two females.
At least 10 secondary pupils, between the age of 14 and 15, were said to have gone to swim at the beach to celebrate the completion of their West African Senior School Examination (WASSCE).
The victims were said to have raised the alarm as the water swept them away, while some life guards plunged into the water and brought out six of the pupils.
The Elegushi Beach Management spokesperson, Ayuba Elegushi, in a statement on Tuesday, noted that the incident happened at an unmanned section of the beach not open to the public.
He asserted that the pupils were not properly registered, stressing that it was the child of their kinsman, who took them from school to the beach and the kids followed him.
He said, “We initially sent them away from the area of the beach they wanted to swim in. Then, they went to another place that was not for the public at all. It was the child of our kinsman, Abass, who took them from school to the beach and those kids followed him.
“They did not pay any gate fee to access the beach. Abass used the leverage that he was one of us to take them through another place.
“Out of the six that were rescued, some escaped by the time we got there. We were able to arrest two of them and we took them to the Jakande Police Station.
“As of now, there are still four missing as our seamen have not been able to bring them out of the water. We have informed their parents and they have come to the police station.
“Abass is one of the missing kids. There is another boy we have not identified and two other girls,” he added.
According to the spokesperson, the two boys that were arrested told the police that they were chased from the beach before sneaking into the restricted section to swim.
He said, “They wrote in their statements that they were chased from the first section they went to. Abass told them that they should not worry and he would take them to another part of the beach. He took them to another end of the beach where no one could see them.”
Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said that investigation was ongoing.
“The teenagers were from Kuramo Senior College, Lekki. Four of them are missing. They are two males and two females. Efforts are on to recover their bodies. We have yet to meet with the parents of the victims,” he said
