No fewer than 25 persons lost their lives in the early hours of yesterday in a stampede at the monthly adoration crusade organised by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obinma of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry for prayers and healing at Uke in Anambra State. The stampede was attributed to the unprecedented crowd at the prayer ground. Sunday Sun gathered from eyewitnesses that the victims died of exhaustion. Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Willie Obiano, were among the dignitaries that attended the event. But the duo had left before the tragedy happened. Eyewitnesses told Sunday Sun that Obi addressed the worshipers and promised to sponsor 20 persons on pilgrimage to Israel as well as provide a better place of worship. “The last Friday all-night prayer was the largest. I have not seen the magnitude of crowd I saw since the history of this ministry. Maybe it was because it fell on All Saints’ Day, which Catholics regard as a holy day of obligation. So, many people didn’t open their shops and that was why the crowd was too much. It is possible that the cause of these deaths was stampede and exhaustion which occurred when people started struggling to leave the venue,” one of the eyewitnesses said. Emeka Ilodiuba from Nnokwa in Idemili South council area of Anambra State who lost his wife in the incident, gave the account of the tragic event saying “I came with my wife Ebube Muonso. When the prayer ended about 5.30 am, we stood to go home. Before then, the governor and his entourage had left. But when we got to the entrance, there was unprecedented crowd trying to get out of the prayer ground. The crowd surged forward and that was when my wife fell down and people fell on top of her till she died.” He maintained that the presence of Obi and Obiano at the prayer ground had nothing to do with the incident and called on the security agencies to thoroughly investigate the major cause of the stampede that claimed the lives of the innocent worshipers. Another eyewitness said trouble started shortly after the event, when a group of people behaving like paid agents started shouting “Fire, fire, fire” which made people to scamper for safety. It is believed that the commotion was deliberately orchestrated by some people who learnt that Governor Peter Obi would visit the place. But the governor had quietly left the venue before the incident happened. The unprecedented crowd was attributed to the fact that the adoration fell on All Saints’ Day, which was the first day of the month (Friday) when many people usually gather for worship. When informed about the tragedy, Governor Obi cancelled all his scheduled engagements for Saturday and rushed the scene to assess the situation. He described the incident as a national calamity that took the entire state by surprise. While addressing the crowd at the Crown, Nkpor, Immaculate Heart and Borromeo hospitals, Obi expressed shock at the incident and prayed God to grant the families of the dead the fortitude to bear the loss. He assured that investigation had kicked off to ascertain the cause of the incident and promised to upgrade the Crown hospital, Nkpor in line with the commitment of his administration to partner with private hospitals to improve the heath sector while insisting that the incident was as a result of stampede. “I was officially invited by the spiritual director of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry and I went and addressed the people. Part of the thing I told them was that we are not playing politics in the church and I left by 3.30 am. I went in company of about 10 persons mainly my siblings. So, I’m depressed, confused and sad at the development”, Obi said. The Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG in charge of C Department, Mr. Kachi Udorji, who led other top police officers to the prayer ground and later to Crown Hospital expressed shock over the incident, stressing that investigations were already on to unravel the cause of the incident. He later took other top officers, including DIGs and AIGs to the Onitsha Area Command and confirmed the figure of casualties and urged the police officers to work hard to get to the root of the incident. The Spiritual Director of Holy Ghost Adoration, Rev Fr. Emmanuel Obinma, who rushed to Borromew Hospital, looked very ruffled when our correspondent visited the place. He was, however, being condoled by Governor Obi and other Rev Fathers present. The Chief Medical Director of Crown Hospital, Dr. Edwin Emegoakor, commended the governor for his spontaneous response. He said it was a pleasant surprise to him when the governor called him on phone few minutes after the victims were brought to the hospital to inquire about the wounded and appealed to him to take utmost care of them. He said, while he was still contemplating whether the governor was actually the one that called, Obi arrived at the hospital. There are indications that the state might take care of the medical bills of the victims as the governor was said to have directed the hospitals to compile the names of the wounded. Emegoakor said that no death was recorded and that most of the victims brought to his hospital were revived and in stable condition. However, at Immaculate Heart Hospital, Nkpor, over 17 persons were confirmed dead. This is in addition to nine other deceased at Borromeo. The whereabouts of three other persons still remains unknown as at the time of filing this report. The governor said that a panel of enquiry would be set up immediately to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 12:25:04 +0000
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