Rivers State Police Command has said that the stampede at Polo Club, Tomba Street, Port Harcourt in the state, which led to the death of more than 30 persons, occurred during a rush for free food items and gifts offered by a church, King’s Assembly on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
The command however said that the situation has been brought under control and normalcy restored to the area.
The church had organized a crusade, with plans to give out free food items and gifts to less-privileged people, which attracted a huge crowd.
A source told Thenewsbearer that it was the fourth edition of such free food and gift distribution to members of the public, and some of the attendees had got to the venue on Friday while others came early on Saturday before the scheduled 9am.
Some members of the crowd were said to have stormed the church’s gate and started pushing to force it open, causing the scrambling that led to the stampede.
Confirming the findings in a statement, the police image maker in the state, DSP Grace Iringe-Koko said that in the investigations, it was found out that the crowd became uncontrollable in trying to get the food items, and all efforts made by the organizers to bring sanity proved abortive, leading to the stampede.
According to Iringe-Koko, “on receipt of the information, the state Commissioner of Police, Friday Eboka, immediately drafted adequate police patrol teams to the scene, and they were able to restore normalcy.
“Persons that were injured were swiftly evacuated to the hospital for immediate medical treatment. Unfortunately, a total of 31 persons lost their lives in the stampede.”
Stating that enough police presence had been emplaced to work with the Command’s safety management officers, the PPRO added that the police commissioner directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to carry out discreet investigations into the incident.
He also enjoined religious and charity organizations to ensure they work with the police for security and crowd control management when organizing programmes that would attract crowd in the future.
CP Eboka commiserated with the bereaved families and pray God to comfort and grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.
