Nigeria School Fair Stampede Kills 35 Children

This aerial picture shows a basic 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 children and seriously hurt 6 others, on Thursday.

The hurt kids were receiving medical attention following the incident, which happened on Wednesday in Nigeria’s third-largest city, Oyo State Police Command stated.

“8 persons have considering that been arrested for their various participations”, police representative Adewale Osifeso said in a declaration.

Among those detained 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 actually opened a probe, Osifeso added.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday in a declaration “expressed extensive unhappiness over the terrible event”.

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

He urged the “Oyo State government to take every essential step to avoid such a disaster from persisting”, the statement by the presidency included.

“Among the necessary actions are a detailed review of all public occasions’ safety steps, stringent enforcement of security guidelines, and routine safety audits of occasion venues,” Tinubu added.

– ‘Rest in peace’ –

Nigeria has actually seen several lethal stampedes in recent months.

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

Later that month, another stampede eliminated four females who had been waiting outside the office of a rich business owner 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 said members of the crowd pushed to acquire the cash, causing a stampede, as Nigeria grappled with its worst economic crisis 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 households and liked ones impacted by this tragedy. 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 added.