Stampede at Abuja church leaves 10 dead

A stampede at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Maitama District of Abuja on Saturday morning left 10 people dead and several others injured.

The incident occurred during a grocery distribution event organised by the church to support poor residents of the Nigerian capital amidst Nigeria’s worst cost-of-living crisis.

The National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Mike Umoh, confirmed the incident to journalists but did not disclose the number of people who died.

“Yes, it’s true, but the details are sketchy,” he said in a brief statement.

Police speak

The FCT Police Command, in a statement by its spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, confirmed that 10 persons, including four children, died in the tragic incident while eight others were injured.

The police also said four of those injured had been treated and discharged.

“This tragic event, which happened at about 6:30 a.m., led to a stampede that claimed the lives of 10 individuals, including four children, and left eight others with varying degrees of injuries. Four of the injured have been treated and discharged, while the remaining victims are receiving medical care,” the statement read.

Ms Adeh said that organisations organising charitable events or large gatherings should notify the police to forestall such incidents in the future.

“To prevent such unfortunate incidents, the Command hereby directs that all organisations, religious bodies, groups, or individuals planning any public event, charitable activity, or large gathering in the FCT must notify the police Command in advance. This will allow for the deployment of adequate security measures to ensure public safety,” she said.

The police warned that failure to comply with this directive would result in organisers being held liable for any loss of life or other consequences.

It also commiserated with the families of the victims of the incident.

FEMD confirms

The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Department (FEMD), in a statement by its spokesperson, Nkechi Isa, also confirmed that the stampede claimed 10 lives, including four children,

It, however, said 10 persons were injured while nine of them have been discharged from the hospital.

“The stampede occurred while the church was distributing palliatives to the less privileged members of the society. The unfortunate incident occurred at 6.30 a.m. today. Nine of the injured persons who were taken to Maitama District Hospital have been discharged,” the statement said.

Ms Isa said the agency’s Director General, Abdulrahman Mohammed, commiserated with the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Abuja, and family members of the stampede victims.

She said Mr Mohammed has appealed to organisations that intend to give food items to the less privileged and to involve security agencies or FEMD.

According to her, the DG also advised such organisations to use coupons and divide the prospective beneficiaries into groups to avoid stampedes.

He further appealed to residents to use the 112 emergency toll-free number in the event of any disaster.

How it happened

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the church, the shoes and clothes of some of the victims of the stampede were noticed littering the expansive car park.

One of the survivors, who asked not to be named, told this newspaper on the church’s premises that chaos started at about 6 a.m. when thousands of residents scrambled to receive relief items.

“We came in the morning to collect rice and clothes at the parish car park, but people started forcing their way instead of queuing.

One of the parish’s security personnel said over 3,000 people, including children, mainly from nearby settlements such as Mpape and Gishiri Village, had gathered for the event.

He said many scrambled to get the items when the unfortunate incident occurred.

He said the injured victims were taken to the hospital.

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Like Ibadan, like Okija

The latest incident comes days after 35 people, mostly children, died during a stampede at a carnival in Ibadan, Oyo State, south-west Nigeria.

Also on Saturday, many people were killed during a stampede in Okija in Anambra State, south-east Nigeria, while taking part in the sharing of bags of rice donated by an entrepreneur, Ernest Obiejesi, popularly known as Obijackson.