“Three Children Can’t Just Drown Together!” Distraught Ondo Father Rejects River Accident Claim, Demands Deep Probe Into Deaths of Twins and 5-Year-Old Daughter Near Barracks

Grief and suspicion have gripped the Oke Ogba community in Akure, Ondo State, following the deaths of three young siblings whose father has rejected official explanations of accidental drowning, insisting his children were victims of foul play.

The victims—11-year-old twin brothers, Joshua and Jacob Jonah, and their five-year-old sister, Blessing—had accompanied their father, Samuel Jonah, to farmland located around the 32 Artillery Brigade (Owena Army Barracks) in Akure. According to the family, the children were instructed to head home ahead of their parents, but panic set in when the father returned later that evening to find the house empty.

An overnight search operation conducted by family members, neighbors, and military police personnel ended in heartbreak when searchers discovered the three lifeless bodies lying near the bank of a small river traversing the barracks farmland.

While security personnel on the scene suggested the siblings may have drowned in the stream, Jonah questioned the narrative, demanding an immediate independent inquiry. The devastated father maintained that what he observed on the bodies ruled out accidental drowning, emphasizing that none of the children showed the typical physical signs of prolonged submersion.

Recounting the moment he uncovered the corpses, Jonah stated that he observed blood trickling from their ears, as well as bloodstains on his five-year-old daughter’s body. He noted that their bellies were flat rather than swollen with swallowed water, and their clothes were only partially wet, arguing that it defies logic for three children of varying ages to drown simultaneously in a small stream without external interference. Suspecting an assault by unknown assailants or armed elements operating around the thickets, he appealed to military and civil authorities to get to the bottom of the tragedy.

Echoing the father’s call, the victims’ uncle, Mazi Hassan, described the incident as shocking and urged the government not to sweep the matter under the rug. Hassan called on security agencies to conduct a transparent forensic investigation, insisting that the loss of three siblings from a single household in broad daylight warrants an exhaustive security review.

The Ondo State Police Command confirmed that inquiries are active. Police Public Relations Officer DSP Jimoh Abayomi stated that Commissioner of Police Felix Ohagwu has directed detectives to gather all available evidence and establish the exact sequence of events that led to the deaths, assuring the grieving family that no angle will be overlooked.