10 dead, including 4 children, after stampede in Nigeria at Christmas charity event

Ten people, including four children, have been killed in a stampede in Nigeria’s capital city as a large crowd gathered to collect food items distributed by a local church at a Christmas event, the police said Saturday.

The stampede occurred in the early morning hours at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, an upmarket part of Abuja, police spokesman Josephine Adeh said in a statement, adding that more than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the church.

Viral footage that appeared to be from the scene showed lifeless bodies laying on the ground as people shouted for help.

Some of the injured have been treated and discharged while others continue to receive medical care, Adeh said.

It is the second such stampede in a week in Africa’s most populous country as local organizations, churches and individuals are increasingly organizing charity events ahead of Christmas amid the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

The recent stampedes in Nigeria have raised questions about safety measures in such events. Several children were killed earlier in the week when a local foundation organized a funfair to distribute gift items to kids in southwestern Oyo state.

After the latest disaster, the police in Abuja announced that prior permission must be obtained before such charity events are organized.

The current economic hardship under Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who promised “renewed hope” when he was sworn into office in May 2023, is blamed on surging inflation that is at a 28-year high and the government’s economic policies that have pushed the local currency to record low against the dollar.

Frustration over the cost-of-living crisis has led to mass protests in recent months. In August, at least 20 people were shot dead and hundreds of others were arrested at protest demanding better opportunities and jobs for young people.

In 2022, a stampede at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people dead and seven injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and many children.