Tragedy strikes as man drowns during Church hangout at Elegushi Beach, Lagos

A 34-year-old man identified as John tragically lost his life after drowning in the waters of Elegushi Beach in Lagos State on a fateful Saturday during a church hangout. According to reports gathered by PUNCH Metro, the Ikorodu-based church had organized a picnic for its youth members, of which the late John was a participant.

Concerns began to mount when, as the day was winding down and the church members were preparing to leave the beach, John was nowhere to be found. Efforts to locate him proved fruitless, and it was reported that someone had seen him entering the water. Lifeguards and divers were swiftly notified, but their attempts to locate John in the water were unsuccessful that Saturday.

Tragically, John’s lifeless body was only recovered by lifeguards on the following Tuesday afternoon, still at the beach.

An eyewitness who preferred to remain anonymous recounted the events, saying, “A church from Ikorodu had come to Elegushi beach for a hangout on Saturday. They were just young people who came around to have fun; about 35 of them came that Saturday. It happened that late in the afternoon when they were packing up to leave, they called everyone to make sure that they were all accounted for, 35 of them, before they left. That was how they realized that one of them, John, was missing.”

The witness continued, “Then they started searching for him that evening. Then, someone told one of them that he had seen the guy walk towards the water, thinking he knew how to swim. The group then called lifeguards and divers to help search for him that Saturday, but they didn’t find him until yesterday, Tuesday, at about 1 p.m., when they recovered his body at the beach.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, noting that the victim’s family had been notified, and the body was transferred to Yaba General Hospital for an autopsy.