Four Die During Stampede for Ramadan Alms in Bauchi
Four persons have been feared dead in a stampede during an alms giving by a corporate organization to the poor in Bauchi state.
Others sustained injury during the stampede in Bauchi Metropolis on Sunday morning.
The tragic incident occurred when the crowd started pushing each other to receive the alms.
The timely deployment of police managed to restore order, but the alms was halted to avoid more casualties.
Spokesman of the state police command, Ahmed Wakili, confirmed the incident, saying police had moved in to restore order.
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The fatal incident occurred two days after two female students of Nasarawa State University, Lafia were also crushed to death during a rush by students for palliative rice.
He, however, warned others who intend to give alms to the less privileged to always carry along other stakeholders, especially the police, to control the crowd.
He added, The command is calling on members of the public to go about their lawful business as the situation is under control. The command is calling on wealthy people in the town to exercise extreme caution.
During the charity-giving process, especially when it involves sharing with large numbers of people, they have to inform the police to help put in place certain channels because we have some standard operational procedures.
In that standard procedure, we have police officers who control the crowd. If such a measure were taken, I don’t think this would happen.
We are sending our condolences to the public and family of the bereaved, as the commissioner of police has directed a distinct investigation to unravel the circumstances that surround the event.
