31 Persons Confirmed Dead in Rivers Church Stampede

Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed deep sadness over the incident over the dead of 31 persons in a stampede that occurred in the early hours of yesterday, during the distribution of free food items by a church in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

THISDAY gathered that a new generation church, Kings Assembly, had invited the public for its fourth edition of gifts and food items distribution, fixed for May 28, 2022.
The church organised the outreach to give out palliatives to the underprivileged in society before the unexpected occurred.

It was gathered that some of the invitees had arrived at the Polo Club, in Port Harcourt, the venue for the distribution of the free items on Friday, while others arrived as early as 6a.m yesterday.
Though the programme was scheduled for 9a.m, THISDAY gathered that the invitees were already at the gate three hours earlier.

The church is located in the GRA area of Port Harcourt, but the event was held at the Port Harcourt Polo Club, which is a bigger facility, to accommodate the anticipated crowd.
It was gathered that the crowd of people were already at the gate at 6.30 am, trying to force themselves into the Polo Club premises.

It was further learnt that as soon as some bouncers opened a small gate, the crowd started scrambling to get into the premises, which resulted in the stampede, leading to the number of deaths.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Grace Iringe-Koko, who confirmed the incident to THISDAY, said 31 persons lost their lives in the stampede.

The police spokesperson also revealed that some of the victims who survived the incident but were seriously injured had been rushed to the hospital for medical attention.
“It is 31 persons that died. It was a stampede because a church was trying to give out palliatives.
“They were about to start the event by 9 a.m. or so. But some people went there and broke into the place and went inside.

“So people started rushing in and there was a stampede.
“From the information we have, the church was trying to gift items and food to assist the underprivileged.
“Meanwhile, an investigation has commenced ascertaining the remote and immediate causes of the incident,” Iringe-Koko explained.

“Everywhere is calm now and those that were injured are in the hospital right now responding to treatment”.
As at the time of filing this report, the church was yet to react to the incident.
But the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Eboka Friday, has ordered an investigation to unravel the immediate cause of she stampede.

Mr. Friday, while condemning the incident, directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-Charge of the State Criminal Investigations Department to investigate  the incident.

He further called on religious and charity organisations to ensure they work with the police on security and crowd control management in organising their programmes in the future.
The CP commiserated with the bereaved families and prayed God to comfort and grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

However, President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed deep sadness over the incident.
In his reaction, the president, in a statement by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, admonished organisers of religious, political and other big events to plan well and carry them out in a disciplined manner to avert similar calamitous deaths and injuries.

He directed that all efforts should be made to provide relief to those injured in the unfortunate incident, while disaster and relief agencies of the federal government should maintain constant contact with the Rivers State government to ensure that good care is taken of the relief efforts.

President Buhari expressed his condolences and that of the nation to the bereaved families and to the government and people of Rivers State and prayed to the Almighty to repose the souls of the deceased.