Posted on: 02:16 Sun, 03 Jul 2016



Two elderly women died on Saturday
in a violent struggle for Ramadan gifts
distributed on behalf of a former
Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, at Onikan Stadium in the
state.

Sunday Punch learnt that a middle-
aged man fainted in the
commotion, while several others
were injured during the
distribution by the Iyaloja General
of Nigeria and Tinubu’s daughter,
Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo.

The Lagos State Police Command,
however, said no deaths were
recorded from the stampede.
Each gift pack was said to have
included a package of rice, salt,
noodles and sugar, as well as a sum
of N1,500 contained in an
envelope, which were given to each
person.

It was learnt that the injured were
rushed to the Marina General
Hospital, while corpses of the
deceased women, who were said to
be in their sixties, were deposited
at the hospital’s morgue.

An eyewitness, Musbau Adeyanju,
who spoke with Punch on the
telephone on Saturday evening,
said a crowd had besieged the
stadium around 8am to collect the
gifts, with males and females
maintaining separate queues.

He said the exercise was smooth
until around 11.30am when it was
disrupted by some impatient
persons.

Adeyanju said, “We started
entering the stadium with a pass as
early as 8am. The distribution
started at 10am and each person
was collecting a bag containing
rice, semovita, noodles, sugar and
salt and a sum of N1,500. It was
Iyaloja General that represented
Asiwaju.

“Around 11.30am, people became
impatient for the fear that the gifts
might not get to them. There was a
stampede and two persons died in
the process. Their bodies were laid
under a tent, while an ambulance
that would carry them was being
awaited. It was when the clothes
that were used to cover their faces
were removed that I discovered
they were elderly women.

“Their bodies were eventually
taken to the mortuary by an
ambulance of the Lagos State
Ambulance Services. Several people
were also injured. I left the place
after the women died.”
Another eyewitness, who identified
himself only as Idris, said some
hoodlums cashed in on the
stampede to dispossess people of
their valuables.

“Initially, the programme was well
organised. A gate was opened for
males and another for females.

Suddenly, some hoodlums at the
stadium started snatching phones
from people. It was almost my turn
when the distribution was
disrupted. The age of the women
that died should be around 60,” he
said.

An emergency official, who spoke
to Punch on condition of
anonymity because he was not
authorised to speak on the matter,
confirmed that there were
casualties during the rampage.

He was, however, silent on whether
there were fatalities among the
casualties.

“I cannot say whether the
casualties involved loss of lives. But
some people were rushed to the
hospital,” he stated.

General Manager of the Lagos State
Emergency Management Agency,
Mr. Michael Akindele, denied
knowledge of the deaths.

“LASEMA did not get any report of
such,” he said.

The Lagos State Police Command’s
spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, said
it was only a man who collapsed
and was treated on the spot before
he was taken to the general
hospital for further treatment.

She said, “It was a Ramadan lecture
organised by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
but he was not there. He was
represented. The place became
rowdy during the distribution of
gifts and a man collapsed in the
process. He was treated inside the
ambulance at the stadium and was
later taken to the hospital for
proper treatment. No death was
recorded.”