How Mother, Daughter Died In Niger Govt House Stampede – Eyewitness

More details have emerged on how a woman and her daughter died in a stampede at the Niger State Government House, Minna, during a solidarity rally for Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago.

An eyewitness, Abu Zakeri, told LEADERSHIP that the rally was not organised, but a spontaneous show of solidarity for the governor following a planned protest by some politically motivated youths, who he said were seeking to disrupt the state’s peace under various guises.

“We all gathered in solidarity for the governor, but all of a sudden, we saw some women coming in after hearing that money was being shared at the Government House.

“In the process, the entire Government House premises were taken over, and there was a stampede. Before I left, three people had died, while scores were injured and rushed to the hospital within the Government House,” he said.

Another eyewitness, Maryam Ahmed, said, “We heard rumours that they were sharing money, so we decided to come for the money. But the situation turned chaotic and some people died.

“I cannot tell how many died because when it became chaotic, some of us left. But I know of a woman and her daughter who died,” he said.

She said the woman and her daughter were buried at the Muslim burial ground in Angwan Daji, adding that women were among those most affected by the stampede because they could not withstand the rigours of the situation.

Meanwhile, three people were feared dead in the stampede at the Government House as the crowd began to swell shortly after the APC national chairman, Prof.Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, visited to commiserate with the governor over the death of 37 miners.

The accounts indicated that the situation became uncontrollable after a rumour spread that the governor was sharing N10,000 each with people at the Government House between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday.

It was gathered that the situation became more chaotic when the governor came out to address the crowd, but could not get them to listen and subsequently returned inside. Despite this, the crowd continued to increase, even as rain began to fall.

There was no official confirmation of the number of deaths recorded in the incident as of the time of filing this report.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Wasiu Abiodun, said he had no record of the incident at the Government House.

Efforts to reach the Commissioner for Information, Mr Obed Nuhu Nana, and the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Bologi Ibrahim, were unsuccessful, as they were said to be in a “crucial meeting” at the time of filing this report.