Church Stampede In Anambra, “kills 25”.
At least 25 people have been killed and many more injured in a stampede at the end of a religious vigil in Anambra state, eastern Nigeria, officials say. More than 100,000 people were gathered for a weekly crusade at the Holy Ghost Adoration Ground in Anambra State.
There was a stampede at the end of the ceremony after Governor which resulted in 25 reported dead & several others who sustained various degrees of injuries.
Anambra governor Peter Obi had been at the event and later returned to visit the injured in hospital.
The stampede took place at about 06:00 (05:00 GMT) on Saturday. Anambra state Governor, Peter Obi had attended the crusade with an entourage of 10, including the National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, the candidate of the party in the November 16 governorship election, Chief Willie Obiano, as well as two siblings of the governor.Unconfirmed report blamed the stampede on the governor. The report quoted eye witnesses as saying the stampede occurred when Obi started campaigning for his gubernatorial candidate and there were shouts of disapproval, causing his security aides to fire tear gas into the crowd.
But Obi, who said, on Saturday said he was heart-broken by the event, and that he had left the crusade after a rewarding spiritual encounter, only to get receive the tragic news later.
He consoled all those affected one way or the other and said those responsible would be punished if found or God will punish them if not found.
The governor explained what happened when he was at the crusade,
“When the spiritual director gave me the opportunity to speak, I noticed something unusual as I saw people carrying the posters of politicians at the adoration ground. I have been going for the crusade there and, on this occasion, I stayed for six hours and left. Our vehicles were parked two kilometres away and this is a place people have been visiting for a long time without any incident. It was later that I heard what happened and we are working hard with security agencies to find out those behind the incident. A holy place should not be a place for playing politics.”
At the time the stampede occurred, many worshiper said they thought the governor and his entourage were still at the crusade, not knowing that he and his entourage had left the area hours earlier.
An eye witness, Mr. Abuchi Ifebuzo, 31, told Sunday Vanguard at the premises of Crown Hospital, Nkpor where he and some of the injured persons were receiving treatment, that the crusade closed at about 5:08 am yesterday and, as the people were attempting to leave the venue, there was a stampede and people were falling over each other. According to him, trouble started shortly after the event, when some people started shouting “fire, fire, fire,” adding that, in the confusion that ensued, the worshippers started scampering for safety and, in the process, began to fall on each other.
Another eye witness at St Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, Chinenye Etinanma, said she escaped because they were the first set that encountered people carrying the placards of politicians at the religious ceremony.
While some of the worshippers attributed what happened to sabotage, alleging that some people raised false alarm of fire, others believed it was an act of God as the people were already on their way out when the stampede happened.
Following the tragedy, Governor Obi cancelled all his engagements for the day, he also directed that the names of all the wounded persons be compiled, although he could not immediately say if the state government was going to pick their hospital bills.
Source: Vanguard