UNIBEN Student Drowns In Lagos Hotel Pool

A 20-year-old student of Sociology in the University of Benin identified as Chukwudi Nwaobi has drowned in a hotel swimming pool in the Ipaja area of Lagos State.

On that ill-fated day, Chukwudi had gone to relax at Infinity Hotel, Abesan Estate.

The deceased, Chukwudi Nwaobi

Recounting the ordeal, the elder brother to the deceased said Chukwudi had called their mother to say he wanted to get to Iyana Ipaja to do some shopping as he was due to return to school a few days later. After sometime, their mother called his phone but he did not pick. The elder brother also tried and still he didn't pick.

The elder brother said, "Just before we were about to report the matter to the police, someone finally picked up to say my brother had been arrested and we should come to Ipaja Police Division. On getting to the station, the police were acting funny. Later, we were allowed into the DPO’s office where we met the manager of the hotel. They then explained to us that my brother was dead and his corpse had been deposited at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba."

The family is blaming the hotel for the incident saying, the information relayed to the family implied that the hotel was negligent.

The elder brother to the deceased said that if the life guard had been on duty at the time of the incident, his brother would not have died, adding that his brother was a good swimmer and wondered how he could have drowned.

He said the hotel should have also informed the family immediately the incident occurred as further investigations revealed that Chukwudi did not die in the hotel, but at Rauf Aregbesola Clinic, Egbeda, where he was referred to from Adefemi Hospital, Opeki, where he was rushed to after he was brought out of the water.

"We were told by the hospital that he still had a pulse when he was brought there but because of the severity of the case, he was referred to Rauf Aregbesola Clinic, Egbeda where he was declared dead," he said.

The mother of the deceased, Ngozi Nwaobi, is however calling on the police and the Lagos State Government to do their best in ensuring that an autopsy was done quickly so the corpse could be released for burial.

The hotel manager and another employee were arrested by the police but were later released.

According to the lawyer for the hotel, Mr. Boye Leyimu who described the incident as unfortunate, they will do everything they can to help the family in this trying time.