Stampedes: Arrest Abuja, Anambra Event Organisers Or Release Ibadan Organisers – MURIC

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has told the Nigeria Police to arrest the organisers of palliative distribution in Abuja and Anambra where some people dead or set the organisers of a similar event in Ibadan free.

Prof. Ishaq Akintola, the Executive Director of the organisation, in a statement on Tuesday, condemned the idea of different treatments for the same tragic incident in three different places.

The group, therefore, demanded the immediate and unconditional release of those arrested in Ibadan over the disaster.

It would be recalled that over 35 children died in a stampede during a children’s funfair in Ibadan, last Wednesday.

A similar incident occurred on Saturday during the distribution of rice and other palliatives at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja, resulting in 10 deaths.

Also, at least 20 residents of Okija community in Anambra State reportedly lost their lives during in a stampede over rice palliative distribution.

However, the organisers of the Ibadan funfair, Ms Naomi Silekunola, the ex-wife of Ooni of Ife, and seven others were arrested by the police in connection with the stampede in Ibadan.

Three of the arrested individuals were also on Tuesday, remanded in prison by a Chief Magistrate Court in Iyaganku, Ibadan.

The individuals include the school’s principal, Mr Abdullahi Fasasi; the proprietor of Agidigbo FM, Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat; and Silekunola, the estranged wife of Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ile Ife.

Chief Magistrate Olabisi Ogunkanmi, who presided over the case on Tuesday, ordered that the trio be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre on Tuesday.

However, Akintola said the Ibadan case should not be a scapegoat for the other incidents.

“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.

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“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,” Akintola said.

The MURIC boss also said 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, December 21, 2024.

He said, “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,” Akintola said.

“There is only one way to go, 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,” Akintola said.