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The recent death of 31 persons during a stampede in a church programme in Port Harcourt is regrettable. The incident which occurred at the Kings Church Assembly’s annual free food programme at Polo Club in Port Harcourt GRA ought to have been avoided with adequate crowd control. According to reports, the stampede, which led to the death of the 31 victims, occurred when the large crowd that attended the distribution of free food programme became uncontrollable.
The reported locking of the gate of the venue of the event and the inability of the organisers to control the surging crowd must have aggravated the situation. While the church meant well in offering succour to poor Nigerians, they should have done better by ensuring enough measures for controlling the crowd. We call on the Rivers State government to institute a probe on the matter with a view to finding out the immediate and remote causes of the stampede. Doing so will help to prevent such tragic incidents in future.
It is apparent that Nigerians have not learnt enough lessons from past stampedes that led to loss of lives and left several others injured. During the vandalisation of COVID-19 palliative warehouses across the country, so many Nigerians lost their lives while many others were injured. Also, Nigeria witnessed such a stampede during the March 29, 2022 World Cup qualifier between the Super Eagles and the Black Stars of Ghana at Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja which left some people injured.
Similarly, so many applicants died at Abuja Stadium on March 15, 2014 during the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) recruitment exercise. Also, not less than five fans died at a stampede at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, on April 7, 1997, after a football match. Stampedes in Nigeria have become a recurring decimal.
Considering the poor culture of crowd management in the country, we call on the government and the police to develop adequate crowd control strategies to forestall such incidents in future. Therefore, the police and other security agencies must be trained on new methods of crowd control in line with global best practices.
It is sad that we lose lives in this part of the world simply because we lack the techniques to control crowd. To avert such deaths in future, we enjoin organisers of such events that would attract large number of people to engage the police and other security agencies for adequate control of the crowd. It is disturbing that most organisers of events in the country do not factor crowd management, suitability of the venue for an event and security while planning them. Had the organisers of the Port Harcourt charity event taken due cognisance of these safety measures, the stampede and casualties recorded at the Port Harcourt event would have been averted. For mass gatherings such as charity fairs, pilgrimages, sports and political events, the organisers must put forward adequate measures to minimise things that might lead to avoidable deaths. The plan should include crowd monitoring, scheduling, and control.
There should also be in place a good contingency plan for easy evacuation of people if necessary. The Port Harcourt stampede incident is also a pointer to the rising unemployment and poverty in the country. It further depicts the level of desperation for survival among the people, especially the down trodden. The sad incident is equally a wake-up call on the government to rise to the challenge of poverty and food insecurity.
There is no doubt that the current measures to alleviate poverty in the land are not effective and national. At best, they have been selective and much targeted at a particular section of the country. Those implementing poverty alleviation programmes should make them national and all-inclusive.
Besides, government must address growing unemployment, especially among women and the youths. It is unfortunate that an oil-producing nation like Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. We urge all tiers of government to invest so much in agriculture, which will produce mass jobs for the teeming army of unemployed Nigerians and also ensure food security. We commiserate with the families of the victims of the avoidable incident and wish the injured quick recovery.
