Nigeria School Fair Stampede Kills 35 Children

This aerial picture reveals a general view of the city of Ibadan in southwestern Nigeria, where the incident took place

A stampede at a school funfair in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan has killed 35 kids and seriously hurt six others, cops stated on Thursday.

The injured children were receiving medical attention following the incident, which happened on Wednesday in Nigeria’s city, Oyo State Police Command said.

“8 individuals have actually considering that been arrested for their different involvements”, authorities representative Adewale Osifeso said in a declaration.

Among those apprehended was the main sponsor of the event at the Basorun Islamic High School, which was organised by the Wings Foundation and Agidigbo FM radio.

The Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department has opened a probe, Osifeso included.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday in a statement “revealed extensive unhappiness over the terrible incident”.

He offered his “genuine acknowledgements” to locals, state authorities and the “grieving households who have actually lost their precious children”.

He prompted the “Oyo State government to take every required step to prevent such a disaster from persisting”, the declaration by the presidency added.

“Among the necessary actions are an extensive review of all public occasions’ safety procedures, rigorous enforcement of security guidelines, and routine safety audits of event locations,” Tinubu included.

– ‘Rest in peace’ –

Nigeria has seen a number of fatal stampedes in current months.

In March, 2 trainees passed away and 23 were injured after being crushed as thousands collected for totally free bags of rice handed out by regional authorities at Nasarawa State University, in main Nigeria.

Later that month, another stampede killed four females who had actually been waiting outside the office of a wealthy entrepreneur in the northern city of Bauchi to gather 5,000 naira ($3.40) money gifts to help spend for food during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Witnesses stated members of the crowd pressed to acquire the cash, causing a stampede, as Nigeria faced its worst recession in a generation.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde had shared his acknowledgements for the Ibadan victims on X on Wednesday.

“Our hearts stay with the families and loved ones impacted by this disaster. May the souls of the left rest in peace,” Makinde said.

“We sympathise with the moms and dads whose delight has all of a sudden been turned to grieving due to these deaths,” he included.