ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Stampedes at three Christmas events across Nigeria have killed at least 67 people, including many children, in the past week. Families are struggling during the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
At least 35 children were killed in the southwestern state of Oyo on Wednesday. And on Saturday, 22 people died in the southeastern state of Anambra, while 10 died in the capital Abuja, where more than 1,000 people had gathered at a church to receive clothes and food.
This is why people in Africa’s most populous country risk their lives for donations during the festive season.
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Inflation at its highest level in 28 years
“There is hunger in this Nigeria. Every Nigerian needs food,” a woman tearfully told local Arise television after the stampede in Abuja.
The economic crisis has been blamed on the government’s policy of saving money and attracting investors, which has helped push inflation to a 28-year high of 34.6%. Meanwhile, the naira currency is languishing at record lows against the dollar.
According to the government’s statistics office, at least 63% of Nigeria’s population of more than 210 million is poor. The government is struggling to create jobs. And when people gather to protest the hardships, security forces are quick to come under pressure. In August, more than 20 people were shot dead by security forces during nationwide protests.
“The average Nigerian has seen food out of reach,” said Cheta Nwanze, managing partner at Lagos-based research firm SBM Intelligence. In 2022, the company found that about 97% of Nigerians spend up to 63% of their income on food, but that share must have grown since then, he said.
According to Loveth Inyang, a witness who rescued a baby from the crowd, some of those who died in Abuja had waited outside the church overnight in cold weather for the chance to go in early.
Security is also expensive
Deadly storms are not new to Nigeria and are often caused by failure to adhere to public safety measures. But analysts say people’s desperation to survive makes crowd control more difficult.
Accounts from witnesses and police in Abuja and Anambra indicate that the stampede occurred before the events began as people tried to secure top positions.
In Abuja, the church was forced to cancel the event, leaving behind bags of rice and items of clothing.
Organizers of such charity events often do not consider security as a priority, says Ademola Adetuberu, who heads Abuja-based security firm Barricade Executive Protection.
Meanwhile, the number of events is increasing as philanthropists and organizations try to meet the growing demand for food.
“If organizers of such events brainstorm more, get professionals to advise them and have a budget for security, this can be avoided,” said Adetuberu.
How authorities respond
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has asked authorities to no longer tolerate “operational errors” by organizers of such events, while police have made it mandatory for organizers to obtain prior approval before hosting them.
But such commitments are not new and are usually difficult to enforce, analysts said.
“People’s incomes are under pressure all year round. When they hear of food being distributed somewhere, their natural instinct is to go,” Nwanze said. “Add this to our notoriously bad queuing culture and you have the perfect storm that will lead to such a stampede.”
