Not fewer than nine members of the National Youth Service Corps who are currently on national assignment in Taraba State on Saturday drowned in River Mayo-Selbe in Gashaka Local government Area.
The spokesperson of Taraba State Police Command, ASP David Missal, who confirmed the death of nine out of the 22 corps members who were swimming in River Mayo-Selbe said seven corpses have so far been recovered from the incident.
“Information available revealed that 22 youth corps members had gone on a picnic party in River Mayo-Selbe in Gashaka LGA on Saturday when the incident happened.
“We were made to understand that while they were swimming in the river, there was sudden upsurge in the volume of water, which carried them away.
“Nine of them drowned, while others managed to escape.
“We have so far recovered seven corpses, while the search for the two remaining corpses is still in progress,” Missal said.
The NYSC Coordinator of Taraba, Mrs. Florence Yaakugh, also confirmed the incident, which she described as “most unfortunate.”
Yaakugh also confirmed that seven bodies have been recovered, while the search for the other two bodies was still ongoing by the locals in collaboration with security agencies and the NYSC.
“It’s a very sad development and we would soon have the identity of all the corps members involved in the accident and make such information known appropriately.
“We have very sketchy information indicating that about nine of our corps members drowned in Gashaka yesterday.
“So far, seven bodies have been recovered and we are working with relevant persons to recover the rest of the bodies and to identify them.
“This is a very sad development and the entire NYSC family in Taraba State is already thrown into deep mourning,” she said.