Nine National Youth Service Corps members currently serving in Taraba State, on Saturday, drowned in the River Mayo-Selbe, in the Gashaka Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Taraba State Police Command, ASP David Missal, who confirmed the death of nine out of the 22 corps members who were swimming in the said river, said seven corpses had so far been recovered from the river.

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“Information at our disposal revealed that 22 youth corps members currently serving in the state were on a picnic in the River Mayo-Selbe, in the Gashaka LGA on Saturday when the incident happened.

“We were made to understand that while they were swimming in the river, there was a sudden upsurge in the volume of water which swept 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,” he said.

The State NYSC Coordinator, Mrs Florence Yaakugh, also confirmed the incident while describing it as most unfortunate.

Yaakugh said seven bodies had been recovered while the search for the other two bodies was still ongoing by the locals in collaboration with security agencies and the NYSC.

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She said,

“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 were drowned in Gashaka yesterday.

“So far, seven bodies have been recovered and we are working with other 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.”

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THE PUNCH