Tragedy struck on Saturday morning as a stampede at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama claimed the lives of 10 individuals, including four children, and left several others injured.
It was gathered that the incident occurred during the distribution of palliatives by the church to vulnerable and elderly residents in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The FCT Police Command, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, confirmed the fatalities and revealed that eight other individuals sustained injuries.
Josephine noted that four of the injured victims have since been treated and discharged, while the remaining are receiving medical attention.
It was learnt that the stampede broke out as thousands of residents scrambled to access the food items, leading to chaos and the unfortunate loss of lives.
However, the FCT Police expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
The statement read, “This tragic event, which happened at about 6:30 am, led to a stampede that claimed the lives of ten (10) individuals, including four (4) children, and left eight (8) others with varying degrees of injuries. Four (4) of the injured have been treated and discharged, while the remaining victims are receiving medical care.
‘’To prevent such unfortunate incidents in the future, the Command hereby directs that all organisations, religious bodies, groups, or individuals planning any public event, charitable activity, or large gathering in the FCT must notify the Police Command in advance.
“This will allow the deployment of adequate security measures to ensure public safety and prevent avoidable tragedies.
‘’Failure to comply with this directive will result in the organisers being held liable for any incident or loss of life resulting from their negligence,” she added.
A similar incident had occurred a few days ago in Ibadan, Oyo State, where a stampede at a children’s funfair resulted in the deaths of at least 35 children and left six others critically injured.
