A CCTV footage has led to the arrest of three students of the University of Abuja who lured and got a fellow schoolmate drowned at The Dome hotel in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
The arrest of the trio was effected by men of the Nigerian police attached to the Federal Capital Territory Command.
The victim, Emmanuel Balogun, 17, was said to be the favourite of many on campus, hence the envy of his friends who lured him to the swimming pool of the fun stop where he eventually drowned.
According to reports, the teenager was struggling in the pool while his ‘friends’ walked away; a betrayal of trust.
The CCTV footage also revealed how the suspects took over the deceased’s belongings including phones, shoes and money as they walked away around 4am.
According to another report, a young girl called the deceased’s parents that his whereabouts were unknown after which the parents stormed the campus.
Arriving at his hostel, he was nowhere to be found and after much probing on Monday, it was learnt a party had taken place at the weekend at The Dome Hotel in which he had participated.
According to a family source, “A dear friend’s undergraduate 17-year old son got drowned at the Dome Hotel pool in Abuja last weekend. He was in the company of his friends. The friend neither reported to hotel management what happened nor to the deceased’s parents.”
The source added that, “They went back to the school hostel immediately after the incident. On Monday, a young girl from UNIABUJA called the mother of the deceased that they did not see Emmanuel in class.
“On getting to the hotel, the management told the search party there was a case of a drowned person over the weekend and they were directed to the police who later led them to the mortuary.
“From the CCTV, we noticed the deceased entered the pool with three of his friends and around 3:33am, he started struggling in the pool. His friends were all watching him until he stopped struggling and drowned.
“They all left the pool immediately and one took his handset, the other took his trousers and brought out the money inside the pocket and wore his shoes. They left the hotel around 4:18am.
It was also revealed that the deceased had paid the N2,000 gate fee for his killer friends before the party began.
The police however apprehended the three friends and would be charged accordingly.
