Youth Corps Member Drowns In Ikom River

Faith Nzube Enemuo, a female Corps member in Ikom village, Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State drowned at the Ikom River on Sunday.
Faith had gone with a group of  her Corps member friends, to play handball at the bank of the river.
A villager who was an eyewitness gave this narration:
“There were about 10 of them, who came to play handball on the dry land near the Ikom River. One of them suggested that they should move closer to the river, but the suggestion was opposed by other Corps members, including the late Faith.
The ball fell into the river and Faith offered to fetch the ball, which was moving faster away from the shoreline.

She stood close to the river for a few seconds, after which she dived to bring the ball out. Her colleagues watched in excitement as she swam close to the ball. But, in a moment, she stopped and started waving her hands. They thought she was still playing, until they didn’t see her again on the water surface.”
When her colleagues finally realised she was in danger, they signalled to the villagers, who were swimming in the river. After 10 minutes of frantic search, the rescuers could not find the girl. More villagers offered to help with canoes and fishing instruments, but they could not get her.
Two days later, in the early hours of Tuesday, Faith’s decomposing body was found floating on the Okuni Beach in the neighbouring village by an excavator, whose name was given as Pius Ogbonnaya.
Other youths assisted Pius to bring out the decomposing body, then they alerted the Police who deposited her body at Emeka cemetery.
The baffling part is that Corps members declined to speak with news correspondents when contacted…only the villagers gave an account of what happened.
It is being rumoured that Faith was pushed into the river by a yet unidentified person but a villager, who pleaded anonymity, debunked the claim. He said it was clear Faith jumped into the river willingly to rescue a ball and got drowned.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Cross River State Command, John Umoh, said autopsy had been conducted on the body.
Faith was a Batch “C” member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with state code number CR/12C/068.
She hailed from Nanka Village in Anambra State. A graduate of Social Studies from the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), the late Faith was serving at Ikom Local Council before her death.
The Corps’ Liaison Officer (CLO) in the local government, Danjuma Zira Khaly, has described Faith’s death as a “big loss to the NYSC in Cross River State,” while the Ikom Local Government Inspector of NYSC, Mr Ekerette Judah Udoekpo, said he was awaiting directive from the zonal inspector on what to do next.