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Horror in Ibadan, as People Die from Stampede at Queen Naomi’s Children Funfair

the front gate of islamic high school bashorun ibadan the venueof thee stampede
The front gate of Islamic High School, Bashorun, Ibadan, the venue of the stampede
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Wednesday, December 18, 2024, was a very sad day in the city of Ibadan, capital of Oyo State.  A children’s carnival, scheduled to hold within the premises of Islamic High School at Bashorun, turned out to be a scene of tragedy. Eyewitness account states that the surge of the crowd led to a stampede resulting in the death of yet unverified number of children who went to the event. Among the dead is a set of twins believed to have been taken to the event by their mother. 

The former wife of the Ooni of Ife, Prophetess Naomi Silekunola had planned the funfair alongside an empowerment scheme through which about 5,000 children were to be given the sum of five thousand naira each.

the front gate of islamic high school bashorun ibadan the venueof thee stampede
The poster of the event placed in front of the school

It was a well publicised event and one of the organisers, Oriyomi Hamzat, broadcast journalist and rights crusader had created much publicity for it through his station, Agidigbo 88.7FM. The turnout was so much that the school venue was already filled the night before the event.

With little evidence of required security arrangement, the crowd was increasing by the minutes such that, early in the morning, the venue was already filled with people far beyond the five thousand persons that would be feted and empowered. Of course, these were mostly children from within and outside Ibadan. However, quite a lot of parents came with their children – and some were infants.

The crowd became uncontrollable before the event could commence and, soon, a stampede broke out leading to deaths and injuries.

Reports say many were already dead before they could be taken to various hospitals across the town while some died after arriving at the hospitals. 

In the end, the event could not hold; some of the organisers stayed away from the venue upon learning about the incident while some who were already at the venue were attacked by an angry crowd.

At one of the hospitals where the victims were taken, Patnas Specialist Hospital at Oluwo Kekere Street, Bashorun, no official was willing to speak with this reporter. But one of the Policemen attached to the hospital mentioned that the organisers of the event did not make adequate security arrangement for the event. According to him, the organisers did not involve the Police. Indeed, nearly everyone spoken to around the area of the incident complained about the poor security arrangement, wondering why the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the state security apparatus, popularly known as ‘Amotekun’ were not involved in the event.

Some families of some of the victims, in front of Patnas Specialist Hospital, Bashorun, Ibadan
Some families of some of the victims, in front of Patnas Specialist Hospital, Bashorun, Ibadan

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has commiserated with the families of the victims of the incidents and has promised to ensure that proper investigation is done to get to the root of the incident.

The state deputy governor, Chief Bayo Lawal, as well as the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Honourable Toyin Balogun, visited the hospitals where some of the victims were admitted. Speaking on the state broadcasting channel, Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, BCOS, the deputy governor said, “It is purely a private affair that is now impacting negatively on the state.”

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Written by Dejo Oyawale

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