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 occurred

A stampede at a school funfair in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan has actually killed 35 kids and seriously hurt six others, police stated on Thursday.

The injured children were getting medical attention following the event, which took location on Wednesday in Nigeria’s third-largest city, Oyo State Police Command stated.

“8 individuals have given that been jailed for their various participations”, cops representative Adewale Osifeso said in a declaration.

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

The Homicide Section of the State Department has actually opened a probe, Osifeso included.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday in a statement “expressed profound sadness over the awful event”.

He used his “wholehearted acknowledgements” to locals, state authorities and the “mourning households who have actually lost their beloved children”.

He urged the “Oyo State federal government to take every essential measure to prevent such a catastrophe from persisting”, the declaration by the presidency added.

“Among the important actions are an extensive review of all public events’ security measures, stringent enforcement of security guidelines, and regular safety audits of occasion places,” Tinubu added.

– ‘Rest in peace’ –

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

In March, two students passed away and 23 were injured after being crushed as thousands collected free of charge bags of rice given out by regional authorities at Nasarawa State University, in central Nigeria.

Later that month, another stampede eliminated four women who had been waiting outside the workplace of a wealthy business person in the northern city of Bauchi to collect 5,000 naira ($3.40) money presents to help spend for food throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Witnesses said members of the crowd pushed to acquire the money, causing a stampede, as Nigeria came to grips with its worst economic crisis in a generation.

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

“Our hearts stay with the households and loved ones impacted by this tragedy. May the souls of the departed rest in peace,” Makinde said.

“We sympathise with the moms and dads whose happiness has unexpectedly been turned to mourning due to these deaths,” he added.