No
fewer than five persons died on Thursday during a stampede at the Jolly Nyame
Stadium in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital during the presidential rally of
the All Progressives Congress.
An
eyewitness, Tanko Yusuf, told one of Punch correspondents that the stampede
happened as President Muhammadu Buhari was entering the stadium and the party’s
supporters, who were locked outside, were trying to catch a glimpse of the
President.
He
stated, “I was standing at the popular stand of the stadium when suddenly I saw
some people going down and being trampled upon by a mammoth crowd who forced
their way into the stadium as the President’s convoy was making its way into
the arena.
“I
can’t confirm how many people were killed in the stampede, but many people were
rushed into an ambulance and other security vehicles after the incident.”
Although
the state Police Commissioner, Mr David Akinremi, and the Police Public
Relations Officer of the Command, David Misal, did not respond to calls to
their phones, the Public Relations Officer of the state Specialist Hospital,
Mrs Dorcas Philemon, told journalists that five corpses were brought to the
hospital.
“Five
corpses believed to be supporters of the All Progressives Congress were brought
to the hospital and deposited at the morgue,” she said.
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