Tinubu Blames Oganisers’ ‘Grave Error’ For Multiple Stampede

President Bola Tinubu on Monday night blamed the organisers of the stampedes that claimed the lives of over 65 persons, mainly children at three locations across the country.

While responding to questions during his nationwide media chat, Tinubu said the events were poorly organised and badly coordinated.

The president said he has been distributing palliatives at his Ikoyi, Lagos private residence for 25 years and there have never been a single case of stampede.

He cautioned those seeking to give palliatives in the future not to make wide publicity about it if they did not have enough to give.

“I see this as a very grave error on the part of the organisers, “I’ve been giving to the less privileged at Bourdillon for the past 25 years, we’ve never experienced stampede.

“It is very sad that people are not well organised. We just have to be disciplined. My condolences to those who lost their family members.”

At least 13 people, including four children, were killed in two separate stampedes in Nigeria as large crowds gathered to collect food and clothing items distributed at annual Christmas events, the police said Saturday.

The two accidents came days after another such stampede in Africa’s most populous country, amid a growing trend by local organizations, churches and individuals to organize charity events ahead of Christmas, as the country struggles with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

Ten people were killed in the first stampede in the early hours at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, an upmarket part of the capital, Abuja, police spokesman Josephine Adeh said in a statement, adding that more than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the church.

There was a crowd surge at one of the church gates, as dozens tried to enter the premises at around 4 a.m., hours before the gift items were to be shared, witnesses said, pointing out that some had been waiting since the previous night.

“The way they were rushing to enter, some people were falling and some of them were old,” Loveth Inyang, a witness. Inyang said he managed to rescue one baby as his mother struggled in the surge.

Tinubu Blames Oganisers’ ‘Grave Error’ For Multiple Stampede is first published on The Whistler Newspaper