Nigeria School Fair Stampede Kills 35 Children

This aerial picture shows a general view of the city of Ibadan in southwestern Nigeria, where the incident happened

A stampede at a school funfair in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan has killed 35 children and seriously hurt 6 others, authorities stated on Thursday.

The hurt kids were receiving medical attention following the incident, which took place on Wednesday in Nigeria’s third-largest city, Oyo State Police Command stated.

“8 persons have actually since been jailed for their numerous involvements”, police representative Adewale Osifeso said in a statement.

Among those apprehended was the primary sponsor of the event at the Basorun Islamic High School, which was organised by the Wings Foundation and Agidigbo FM radio.

The Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department has opened a probe, added.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday in a declaration “revealed extensive unhappiness over the awful incident”.

He offered his “genuine condolences” to locals, state authorities and the “grieving households who have lost their precious kids”.

He prompted the “Oyo State government to take every needed step to prevent such a tragedy from repeating”, the statement by the presidency included.

“Among the essential actions are an extensive evaluation of all public events’ precaution, strict enforcement of security policies, and routine security audits of occasion locations,” Tinubu added.

– ‘Rest in peace’ –

Nigeria has seen a number of fatal stampedes in current months.

In March, 2 students died and 23 were injured after being squashed as thousands collected totally free bags of rice distributed by regional authorities at Nasarawa State University, in main Nigeria.

Later that month, another stampede killed four women who had actually been waiting outside the office of a rich businessman in the northern city of Bauchi to gather 5,000 naira ($3.40) cash presents to help pay for food during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Witnesses said members of the crowd pushed to acquire the cash, triggering a stampede, as Nigeria came to grips with its worst recession in a generation.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde had shared his acknowledgements for the Ibadan victims on X on Wednesday.

“Our hearts remain with the households and enjoyed ones affected by this tragedy. May the souls of the departed rest in peace,” Makinde stated.

“We sympathise with the moms and dads whose joy has all of a sudden been turned to mourning due to these deaths,” he included.