As survivors of the Abuja and Anambra State rice stampede recuperate in different medical facilities, Muslims have demanded that the events organisers be apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
The Muslims said that the treatments handed to the Ooni of Ife Adeyeye Ogunwusi’s former wife, Naomi, and seven others Ibadan event organizers in Oyo State where 35 children died during stampede should be extended to the planners of the Abuja and Anambra State tragedies as well.
They noted that if the Federal and State Governments could not probe organisers of both stampedes immediately, the Nigerian Police should set the organisers of a similar event in Ibadan free unconditional to return home and celebrate the yuletide season with their families.
The Muslims under the the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), human rights non governmental organization, made the demands on Tuesday while commiserating with families of deceased attendees of the charity events that turned into stampedes.
The founder of the MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, who spoke on behalf of the Muslims, condemned the idea of different treatments for the same tragic incident in three different places.
“Three tragic events took place in the last few days as the distribution of palliatives in Ibadan, Oyo State, Abuja and Okija in Anambra State led to uncontrollable stampede which claimed the lives of about 50 people, many of them children.
*“MURIC is interested in knowing why it was only the organisers of the Ibadan event that were arrested while those in Abuja and Okija were allegedly left free. We therefore demand the immediate and unconditional release of the organisers of the Ibadan event.*
“Queen Naomi Silekunola in particular is well known for her philanthropic activities and nobody in his or her right mind will assume that she deliberately planned a massacre.
“By the same token, the arrest of the principal of Islamic High School, Orita Bashorun, Ibadan, was quite unnecessary because the alumni of that school has confirmed that the venue was approved by the Oyo State Ministry of Education and not by the principal acting unilaterally (https://dailypost.ng/2024/12/21/ibadan-stampede-oyo-govt-not-principal-approved-venue-alumni/).
“The Obi Jackson Foundation led by Chief Ernest Obiejesi had good intentions as usual but things still went wrong. However, Anambra police did not haul him into detention the way Oyo police detained Queen Naomi and Mr. Fasasi, the school principal.
“In the same vein, there has been no report of arrests by the Abuja police formation over the palliative-induced stampede at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja, on Saturday, 21st December, 2024.
“The Nigeria Police has left many questions unanswered regarding its handling of the three tragic episodes. A stampede is a stampede. One should not be differentiated from the other. Ditto for the issue of deaths. Homo sapiens died in all the events, not goats, not dogs.
“All the organisers should have been treated equally. But as things stand, it appears the sledgehammer descended on Ibadan organisers alone while Abuja and Okija merely vowed to investigate the calamities.
*“There is only one way to go, viz, arrest the organisers of the Abuja and Okija events or set the Ibadan organisers free. The honourable thing the Oyo State Police Command can do is to set those detained free immediately and unconditionally while the state government sets up a panel to investigate the tragedy. The police should not blow hot and cold at the same time.*
“We condole with the bereaved families and we pray that Allah will give them the fortitude to bear the loss. Finally, we align with the position of the police concerning the need for organisers of future events which are likely to draw large crowds to involve the police for security measures and crowd control modalities.”
