Okija rice stampede: I lost three people - Obele Ugo *As organizers recount what happened

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By Madu Obi

A businessman, Mr. Obele Ugo, has said that he lost three people during the stampede that claimed many lives at the Okija headquarters of the Obijackson Foundation when people from many communities in Ihiala local government area gathered to collect Christmas rice at the weekend.

This came as some of the organizers of the annual rice sharing event narrated what led to the stampede.

Ugo, who spoke amidst sobs said: "I lost three relations during the stampede. My maternal uncle lost his wife who went for the rice and her dead body has been brought home. Her husband is a luxury bus driver. My two married sisters from Ubahu Agbugba village also lost their lives and their corpses are now in the mortuary."

According to him, many families in Okija and beyond lost people, noting that it was an unexpected development as the event has been taking place for the past 14 years without hitches.

Some of the organizers of the event lamented that the good intentions of the Obijackson Foundation were marred due to desperation by the people.

One of them said: "Announcement was made in all the 30 villages in Okija for people to come over and get their palliatives on Saturday and the people were assured that there were enough palliatives for everyone.

"The event was scheduled for 9:00 am on Saturday 21st December 2024 at the Obijackson Foundation Headquarters, but as early as 12:00 midnight, people left the comfort of their homes and slept at the gate of the Foundation.

By 4:00 am, the entire Okija and Obijackson Foundation Headquarters was a beehive of activities. Old women, men, the sick and youths already parked themselves at the gate in order to be the first to collect.

Around 6:00 am, the vehicles bringing seats to the venue could not find their way into the arena due to the crowd that gathered behind the gate. When one side of the gate was opened to enable the vehicles enter, it suddenly broke down.

It was at that moment that the people forced themselves in. Old women and youths could be seen climbing the broken down vehicle full of seats into the compound, when it was not yet time for people to enter.

The security operatives, in order to restrict and control the crowd, started driving people back. This caused the stampede as the people were forced to go back.

In the melee, people were trampled upon. Most of the people who were affected were those who slept over to be the first to carry rice."

According to him, one man who came with his family managed to jump in through the fence, but his wife and child couldn't. These palliatives were meant for adults and youths, but many families came with toddlers.

"People climbed on top of each other and marching on the aged and weak under the stampede. It was a chaotic scene and the result was the death of several people. Ambulance was called in to revive those who went into coma", he said.

Although the sharing later resumed, some people in the community said the exercise ought to have been suspended on realizing that many people had lost their lives.

Those who came at the right time of 8am only heard the story that some people died there earlier and they collected their palliatives without much stress.

"That rice ought not to have been shared the same day after the stampede. If you go to many mortuaries, the bodies of people's mothers and wives are littered there and people were seen dancing with rice on their heads", another person whose family member died said.