The Niger State Cash Distribution Stampede, Mass Impoverishment And Hunger In The Land, by Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

The tragic incident of stampede and death of poor Nigerian citizens that occurred right inside the Niger State Government House in Minna is quite unfortunate and condemnable. I have tried to resist the urge to comment on the tragic incident but the more I try the more compelling the urge to write about it. Media reports have it that the ugly incident occurred on the night of Tuesday, September, 2026. It was reported that the Niger State governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago had invited the youths to a parley in government house when he got wind a planned protest by the youths concerning the death of 37 suspected illegal miners arrested during anti-illegal mining operations in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16 that died in the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) custody in Minna on September 17, 2026.

Consequently, it was revealed that some appointees of the governor, had posted on social media before the incident that the youths had gathered at the Government House to show solidarity with Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago. And when the some people learnt that money would be shared as is the case in such gathering, thousands trooped to the government house. So, during the money sharing exercise, there was a chaos because of the large crowd that had come for the cash-out. The ensuing stampede resulted in the death of about 3 to 10 person with several others sustaining varying degrees of injuries. The injured victims are said to be receiving treatment at the Minna General Hospital.

Among those who lost their lives were a woman, identified as Dije, and her daughter, Hurairat, both internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Allawa community in Shiroro Local Government Area. It is said that Hurairat’s had been living in the IDP camp in Minna since 2023 when the Allawa community where she lived was sacked by bandits and her husband, Abubakar, a butcher, was reportedly killed by bandits along the Allawa-Pandogari Road. Dije too, who was staying with her husband as an internally displaced person in Gurmana, had visited her daughter, Hurairat in the IDP in Minna, when they both heard that the governor was going to distribute money at the Government House. They subsequently went there to collect the handout before they met their untimely death.

It worth noting that this incident of stampede and death has become common since the coming of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) regime and more in the last three years during this Tunubu administration. In the last three years close to 200 Nigerians have lost their lives in stampede situations most commonly triggered by overcrowding during the distribution of government palliatives, humanitarian and religious charity (Zakat/alms).

Here are some of the tragic incidences of stampede and death that have occurred in the country since 2024. On Friday, February 23, 2024, a tragic stampede occurred at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Old Zonal Headquarters on Harvey Road in Yaba, Lagos, resulting in the deaths of seven people when the Nigerian Customs Service began direct public sale of confiscated food itmes below the average market price. The auction attracted a massive uncontrollable crowd that created chaos and stampede. One of the victims was a pregnant woman identified as Comfort Adebanjo.

And in March, 2024, three students of Nasarawa State university were trampled to death while more than 20 others sustained injuries during a stampede when the students bypassed protocols and began to cart away the 5kg bags of rice the State Governor, Abdullahi Sule had intended to distribute to the students as palliatives to cushion economic hardship. About the same time in Bauchi another tragic stampede that resulted in the death of seven people happened when a prominent business mogul and philanthropist, Yakubu Maishanu Shafa invited residents to the headquarters of AYM Shafa Holdings Company Plc in the Bauchi metropolis to aid less privilege families cushion the effects of economic hardship as part of Zakat (almsgiving) during the Ramadan season.

Again, in April 4, 2024, nine people died in a fatal stampede and scores of others injured at the residence of former Sokoto State governor, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko when he was sharing the usual Ramadan palliatives of food items. Among the deceased was Fatima Bala, an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) a volunteer assisting with the crowd during the distribution of the palliatives.

On December 18, 2024, in Ibadan, Oyo State, 35 children lost their lives in one of the most heart breaking situation when a massive surged during a Christmas charity funfair and gift distribution organized by Olori Naomi Silekunola of the Women In Need of Guidance and Support Foundation and Agidigbo 88.7 FM. on the school premises of Islamic High School, Bashorun District, Ibadan.

On Saturday, December 21, 2024 at Amaranta Stadium, Okija, Anambra State, about 22 people were trampled to death during a surge and stampede during a Christmas palliative and food distribution event organized by the Obijackson Foundation. On the same day this time in the premises of a Catholic Church, Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama about 10 people including 4 children died and many others injured where an estimated 3000 people had gathered for a relief item of food and clothing organized by the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul.

And this year by February 26, four people were killed and several others were injured during a tragic stampede in Katsina State at the residence of a well-known local philanthropist, Alhaji Dahiru Usman Sarki, located in the Kofar Guga Quarters of the Katsina metropolis when a massive crowd had gathered at his house to receive annual Ramadan alms (Zakat).

These events are unfortunate and tragic. They occur because people and hungry, impoverished by wrong economic policies of the government in power. Desperation to survive is making many Nigerians not to even notice where there is danger any more. Some have lost sense of danger scooping fuel from fallen tanker and getting consumed in the inferno.

The usual act of philanthropy during religious festivals are turning to death traps. Public affairs analysts said that severe economic hardship in the country drastically amplified the desperation for free food interventions, turning an act of charity into a disaster. Indeed, the stampede tragedies highlight the severe economic pressures and hardships facing many Nigerian households. The only solution is to vote out those that brought this state of affairs on the nation. Nigerians I enjoin you to vote and ensure that your votes count so as to end the scourge of poverty and hunger in the land. Long live Nigeria!

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed
hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com
An actress, social activist, politician
London, UK.