10 dead, including 4 children, after a stampede in Nigeria during a Christmas charity event

Ten people, including four children, were killed in a stampede in the Nigerian capital, when a large crowd gathered to collect food distributed by a local church during a Christmas celebration, police said on Saturday.

Police spokeswoman Josephine Adeh said in a statement that the stampede occurred in the early morning hours at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, an upscale area of ​​Abuja, adding that more than a thousand people had been evacuated from the church.

Viral footage that appeared to be from the scene showed lifeless bodies lying on the ground as people screamed for help.

Aday said that some of the injured were treated and released from the hospital, while others are still receiving medical care.

It is the second such stampede in a week in Africa’s most populous country, where local organizations, churches and individuals are increasingly organizing pre-Christmas charity events amid the country’s worst cost of living crisis in a generation.

Recent stampedes in Nigeria have raised questions about safety procedures in such events. Several children were killed earlier in the week when a local organization organized an entertainment festival to distribute gifts to children in the southwestern state of Oyo.

After the recent disaster, the police in Abuja announced that prior permission must be obtained before organizing such charitable events.

The current economic difficulties under Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who promised “renewed hope” when he was sworn in in May 2023, are due to high inflation that has reached a 28-year high and the government’s economic policies that have pushed the local currency. To record a decline against the dollar.

Frustration over the cost of living crisis has led to mass protests in recent months. In August, at least 20 people were shot dead and hundreds more arrested during protests demanding better opportunities and jobs for young people.

In 2022, A.J Stampede at a church charity event A suicide bombing in southern Nigeria killed 31 people and injured seven others, police told The Associated Press, a shocking development for a program aimed at giving hope to those in need. One witness said that among the dead was a pregnant woman and several children.