More than 31 persons perished during a stampede for free foods at Kings Assembly at Polo Club, on Saturday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, the police confirmed.
Scores were also said to have sustained injuries during the stampede by the church members and the public to collect gift items.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Grace Iringe-Koko, said preliminary investigations conducted by the Command revealed that the incident occurred when the management of the church organised a crusade meant to offer gift items to its members and the public.
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“There were plans by the church management to give away food and gift items to the less privileged.
“Unfortunately, the crowd became tumultuous and uncontrollable and all efforts made by the organisers to bring sanity proved abortive, hence the stampede,” the statement said.
The PPRO said on receipt of the information on the incident, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Friday Eboka, immediately drafted police patrol teams to the scene and they were able to restore normalcy.
Persons injured at the incident were said to have been evacuated to the hospital for immediate medical treatment.
“The situation has been brought under control and enough police presence has been put on ground to work with the Command’s safety management officers.
“The Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, CP Eboka Friday, while condemning the incident, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-Charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to carry out discrete investigations into the incident,” the statement read.
The CP further called on religious and charity organisations to ensure they work with the Police for security and crowd control management when organising their programmes in the future.
The CP equally commiserated with the bereaved families and prayed God to comfort and grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.
The PPRO could not ascertain if any arrest has been made on the matter as at the time of filing this report.
However, two public affairs analysts in Inspiration FM, Uyo on Monday attributed the cause of the death to greed and hunger by the victims.
While Akanimo Sampson, a journalist attributed the stampede to hunger in the land, Sammy Etuk, a legal practitioner linked the cause of the death to greed, which is a usual character flaw of many Nigerians both at the private and public lives.
Sampson said ”This shows the level of poverty and hunger in the land. This is a state where the governor collects huge monthly allocations yet hunger is looming large in the land. The sad incident occurred while the governor was in Abuja allegedly dolling out dollars to delegates to collect more votes for his presidential ambitio.,’’
According to Etuk, ”At public functions, you see many people struggling for copies of funeral programme while others rush for foods and drinks at the expense of others.
”Even public office holders and some personal assistants to the governor are greedy in that they would collect up to six plots of land for themselves and still go for more instead of allowing the less privileged to do so.’’
Meanwhile, the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the unfortunate incident.
Disheartened by the tragedy, Wike mourned the victims and expressed profound condolences to the bereaved families.
A statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Kelvin Ebiri, read, “On behalf of the government and people of Rivers State, I pray for God to grant the bereaved families the fortitude to bear the loss of their loved ones.
“I also pray for the souls of all the faithful departed to rest in perfect peace. And to the injured, I wish them a speedy recovery.”
Wike said the government would constitute a probe panel to investigate the incident and give details of what transpired.
The tragedy occurred when an overwhelming crowd arrived the programme venue between 1.00 a.m. to 3.00 a.m. They forced open the entrance gate to the Polo Club venue, located at Government Reserved Area (GRA) in Port Harcourt.
It was gathered that as soon as the gate was open, the crowd rushed into the premises and immediately, the stampede occurred.
The church had invited the people to come for free food at 9.00 a.m. but some residents decided to go earlier than scheduled.
