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From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has faulted the arraignment and remand in prison of a philanthropist and former queen of Ooni of Ife, Naomi Silekunola and others over the death of 35 children who died in a funfair stampede last week in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
NANS said though the tragic event was unfortunate, the former queen should not be punished for her philanthropic gestures which she has been doing over the years.
Silekunola is one of three people brought before the Iyaganku Magistrate Court in Ibadan in connection with a terrible funfair stampede that killed 35 children last week.
The court has already ordered the accused’s detention in prison on allegations of conspiracy, negligent conduct causing damage, and failing to provide proper security and medical services for the event.
But the student body in a statement signed by the Clerk of the Senate, NANS National headquarters, Abdul-Yekinn Odunayo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, yesterday, described the detention of the philanthropist as wrong and unnecessary.
Odunayo in the statement argued that rather than making the former queen of Ife a scapegoat for her kind gesture, the government, especially at the federal level, should find solutions to the hunger that has permeated the core of the country.
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According to him, if the government had addressed the parlous economic situation which had exacerbated hunger, such a fatal stampede would have been avoided.
He said records had clearly shown that Naomi had organised numerous outreach programmes over the past decade to assist the needy, elderly, children, and pregnant women across Nigeria without incident, insisting that ugly incident in Ibadan was due to the widespread poverty in the land.
The NANS Clerk of the Senate stated further that “if the government blamed the organizers for the deaths in the Ibadan stampede, then those responsible for food distribution in the FCT and Anambra where scores of people died in stampedes should equally be prosecuted”.
While calling for the release of Naomi and others undergoing trial, Odunayo pointed out that their continued detention is capable of sending a wrong signal to other philanthropists and public-spirited individuals in the country.
“Rather than holding Naomi and others solely responsible for the unfortunate deaths of children in Ibadan, the government should by now realize that hunger is real in the country. The government is vicariously liable as it has failed to revamp the economy and address poverty.
“Similar deaths in the FCT and Anambra has shown that our government has failed in its duty to ensure availability of food to Nigerians. Or was it Naomi that organized the event in other locations? Why has the government not brought the organizers in the FCT and Anambra State to the book?
“NANS hereby calls for the release of the former Queen of Ife and others; their continued detention will no doubt discourage others from philanthropy. We view the step taken by the Oyo State government as a volte face and subterfuge for the government’s failure to address the issue of poverty and hunger pummeling Nigerians”, the statement stated further.
