It was sad enough that Nigeria had to suffer a national tragedy occasioned by very inexcusable reasons, causing citizens to mourn at a time when they should be in their festive mood of Christmas and New Year celebrations. The incident that killed dozens of children in a stampede in Ibadan, which within days repeated itself in two separate other stampedes in Abuja and Anambra State collectively says several things about governance and about Nigerians as a people.
The Oyo State Police Command, in a statement issued last week Thursday by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Adewale Osifeso, said 35 children have died from a stampede during a children’s Christmas funfair while six others were critically injured and on various medical interventions. The event, which took place on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at the Islamic High School, Basorun, Ibadan, was organised by the Wings Foundation.
Meanwhile, Osifeso said eight people have been arrested including the main organiser of the event who is a former wife of the Ooni of Ife, Olori Naomi Silekunola and the principal of the school, Fasasi Abdulahi.
Only three days after the Ibadan stampede, the same tragedy from which the country had not fully recovered reoccurred in Abuja during an event for the distribution of rice and other palliatives at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama. Confirming the stampede, the FCT Police Command said 10 individuals died, while eight others sustained varying degrees of injuries. Victims of the incident were mostly women and children.
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Less than 24 hours after the news of the Abuja incident filtered out, the police in Anambra State announced that 22 people were killed in a stampede that occurred in Okija, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state. The spokesman in the command, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed that residents had gone to take part in the sharing of bags of rice donated by a philanthropist when the incident happened. The event was organised by the Obijackson Foundation, founded by an entrepreneur, Ernest Obiejesi popularly known as Obijackson.
Reacting to the multiple stampedes, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, advised groups and organisers of similar events to ensure the involvement of security agencies as negligence on their part is criminal and would not be overlooked, as provided for in Section 196 of the Penal Code and Section 344 of the Criminal Code, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In honour of the victims of the stampedes, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cancelled all his official events in Lagos for Saturday, December 21, 202,4 including his attendance at the 2024 Lagos Boat Regatta. While praying for the peaceful repose of the souls of the innocent Nigerians who died in the stampedes, President Tinubu wished a quick recovery to the injured.
Available statistics show that 213 lives have been lost in various stampedes in parts of the country from 2013 to 2024. In 2024 alone, seven stampedes related to food distribution were recorded killing about 99 people. Before the Ibadan, Abuja and Anambra incidents, at least seven people died in a stampede in Yaba, Lagos, during the sale of 25kg bags of rice for N10,000 to the public in February 2024. The bags of rice had been seized by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Also in March 2024, seven people were reported dead and several others injured in a stampede during the annual Zakat distribution exercise at the Shafa Holdings Company along Jos Road in Bauchi. One month later, nine people reportedly died during the distribution of palliatives at the residence of Senator Aliyu Wamakko in the Gawon Nama area of Sokoto State.
In spite of the fatality figures of all the past stampedes, the country does not seem to have learnt any lessons. If any were learnt, this often-repeated loss of lives from stampedes would have ceased from being a recurring decimal. The consistent refusal by organisers of food-sharing events to comply with safety measures is a major cause of stampedes. The success of such public events largely depends on adequate arrangements for proper crowd control, which can only be guaranteed with the full involvement of security agencies.
As we call on organisations, religious bodies, groups, or individuals with plans for any public events involving large gatherings to notify the police ahead of the occasion, there is a need to explore other options whereby there would be no need to create any massive crowd.
For example, palliatives and food interventions could be distributed through community or ward leaders, organisations, guilds and cooperative societies. In the 21st digital age, technology could be deployed to simplify distribution and collection procedures by way of developing an automated schedule for beneficiaries.
While we urge Nigerians to learn to be orderly in everything they do, we call on the government to make people to be self-reliant and create job opportunities for the unemployed so that citizens do not have to be absolutely dependent on palliatives for survival. Daily Trust commiserates with all the families of those who lost their loved ones in all the stampedes and wishes the injured quick recovery.
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