President Bola Tinubu has cast blames on organisers of the various charitable events that led to the recent stampedes in Ibadan, Abuja and Okija, where a total of 67 people, including 35 children, died in their rush for palliatives.
Tinubu stated this in a media chat aired on Nigeria Television Authority on Monday.
His comments follow a wave of stampedes as people scampered for food items made available by charitable groups and individuals.
In Okija, Anambra State, what was meant to be a Christmas palliative distribution on Saturday turned tragic when 22 persons lost their lives, with several others injured, during an early morning stampede.
The same day in Abuja, another tragedy struck when 10 persons died during an annual Christmas food-sharing event at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Maitama.
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These incidents followed Wednesday’s stampede at the Islamic High School, Basorun, in Ibadan, Oyo State where several children lost their lives during a holiday funfair celebration, with others rushed to the University College Hospital for medical attention.
“To me, I see this as a very grave error on the part of the organisers,” he said.
“Are we looking at it from the organisers point of view or from the goodwill gesture of the people trying to give what they have as extra?
“Sadly, people are not very well organised, we just have to be more disciplined in our society.
“Condolences to those who lost family members, but it is good to give.
“I have been giving out food stuff and commodities, including envelopes in Bourdillion for the past 25 years; I have never experienced this kind of incident because we are organised and prone to discipline.
“If you don’t have enough to give, don’t attempt to give or publicise it.
“Every society has food banks and hungry people. They are organised; they take tokens to be in line and take turns to collect.
“It is unfortunate. It is reflected at our bus stops, we don’t want to queue, so we rush to board vehicles. We continue to learn from our mistakes,” the president adds.
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