Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, claimed “similar unfortunate occurrences have been recorded in the past, before the current administration” when describing the deadly stampedes in Ibadan, Anambra and Abuja.
In a supposed condolence speech to the families of victims of these various stampedes on Sunday, Idris said that it would be unwise to link the tragedies to Tinubu’s economic reforms.
“It is worth noting that similar unfortunate occurrences have been recorded in the past, before the current administration, as such, making any attempt to link these tragedies to the President’s reforms is unfounded and disingenuous,” he said.
On Saturday, FIJ reported that 65 deaths had been recorded from separate stampede incidents that occurred within four days.
READ MORE: Abuja Church Incident Raises Stampede Deaths to 65 in 4 Days
The patterns of the three stampedes were similar. In Ibadan where 35 children lost their lives, people were gathered very early in the morning for freebies during a Christmas party hosted by Naomi Silekunola Ogunwusi, an ex-wife of the Ooni of Ife.
Agidigbo FM, a popular Ibadan-based radio station, had announced the event.
In the Abuja and Anambra stampedes which took place on Saturday, people also gathered very early to queue for free food before the violent shoving started.
While 20 people lost their lives in Anambra, 10 died in Abuja, with many others injured.
Recent reports have quoted higher casualty figures from the Anambra stampede.
READ ALSO: 7 Bauchi Women Die in Stampede for N10,000 Ramadan Palliative
While Idris claimed that the incident should not be linked to the economic state of Nigeria under Tinubu, the all-time-high inflation rate and the cost of a healthy meal in Nigeria say otherwise.
In February, a National Bureau of Statistics report showed that N786 was enough to purchase a healthy meal in Nigeria. By August, the cost of a healthy meal had jumped to N1,255, and then N1,346 in September.
The harsh economic situation in Nigeria has strengthened the crowds and their desperation to get palliative and free food. Poor crowd control and the absence of law enforcement agents to prevent a repeated tragedy led to the Anambra and Abuja incidents only three days after the Ibadan crush.
The post Info Minister Idris Claims Similar Stampedes Occurred ‘in the Past’ to Absolve Tinubu of Blame appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.