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Dozens killed in stampede at church event in Nigeria | News


A police spokesman said the stamping came as hundreds of people gathered at the annual ‘Free Shopping’ charity event in Rivers State.

At least 31 people were killed in a stampede at a church charity event in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, police said.

Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman for Rivers state, where the capital Port Harcourt is located, said hundreds of people came to collect food at the event early Saturday morning.

People have been lining up since Friday to get into the Port Harcourt Polo Club, the site of the annual “Free Shopping” charity run by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church.

“People were there earlier and some got impatient and started rushing, leading to stampedes. Police are present monitoring the situation while the investigation is ongoing,” Iringe-Koko told Reuters.

A police spokesman said seven others were injured but were “responding to treatment” following a stampede at the event, which organizers said was meant to “give hope” to the poor.

A police spokesman said an investigation has been launched and a report will be released in due course.

Reporting by Al Jazeera, Fidelis Mbah from Nigeria’s capital, Abuja said the death toll could rise.

“Witnesses say the number may be higher than the official number given by the police. A similar incident happened in December 2020 after a business organization attempted to raise money for the needy in Port Harcourt,” said Mbah.

“About eight people were killed in that incident. The government has called for an investigation to find out whether appropriate security measures have been put in place to ensure such incidents do not happen again,” he added.

Video from the scene shows clothes and shoes intended for beneficiaries scattered on the ground. Doctors and emergency personnel treated several injured people as they lay on the open ground.

The “Free Shopping” event has been suspended while authorities investigate how the stampede happened.

Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million people live in poverty, according to government statistics.

Nigeria has seen a number of stampede tragedies related to food distribution in recent years, including an aid agency food program in North Borno state where seven women were trampled. to death last year.



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