A former vice president Atiku Abubakar has called for better crowd management during large-scale events owing to the multiple stampedes in two food distribution programmes.
Scores of persons were killed while many others are still nursing injuries following a stampede during a food distribution event by a church in Abuja and a similar one in the Okija community of Anambra State – all happening in the early hours of Saturday.
Atiku said he received the news of the twin stampede with a “heavy heart and deep sorrow”.
“It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that I receive yet again the heartbreaking news of lives lost in tragic stampedes, this time in Okija, Anambra, and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, resulting in the untimely passing of many,” Atiku wrote in a post on his X handle late Saturday.
“It is imperative that those entrusted with the organization of such large-scale events take the utmost care in crowd management, prioritizing the safety and well-being of all participants,” he said.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 and 2019 elections recalled a similar incident in Ibadan Oyo State, leading to the death of about 35 persons, mostly children, during a funfair.
According to him, the twin stampedes coming “just days after the devastating loss of” lives in Ibadan, is the reason why his “anguish is all the more unbearable”.
“On behalf of my family, I extend my sincerest condolences to those who have lost loved ones in today’s tragic events,” the former vice president said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the grieving families, that they may find solace and with the departed, that they may rest in eternal peace.”
Already police authorities have ordered a probe into the stampedes and called for better crowd management by organisers of charity events.
