No fewer than three people have died while several others sustained injuries following a stampede at the Niger State Government House in Minna.
The injured victims are currently receiving treatment at the Minna General Hospital.
The incident reportedly occurred on Tuesday night after youths linked to a planned protest over the deaths of 37 artisanal miners in the state were allegedly invited to the Government House and asked to shelve the planned demonstration.
The deaths of the 37 miners, who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), have generated public concern in Niger State and prompted investigations by both state and federal authorities.
Among those who died in the stampede were a woman identified as Dije and her daughter, Hurairat, both internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Allawa community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
According to a report by Daily Trust, Hurairat’s husband, Abubakar, a butcher, was killed by bandits in 2023 along the Allawa-Pandogari Road.
Following the attack and the subsequent desertion of Allawa community, Hurairat relocated to Minna, where she had been living as an IDP.
Dije, who was also staying with her husband as an IDP in Gurmana, had reportedly gone to visit her daughter in Minna.
The two women were said to have heard that Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago would distribute money at the Government House and subsequently went to the venue.
Mallam Musa Allawa, an IDP from the community, told Daily Trust that Dije and Hurairat were expected to be buried at 10am on Wednesday.
Before the stampede, some government appointees had reportedly posted on social media that youths had gathered at the Government House to show solidarity with Governor Bago.
However, according to one of the governor’s appointees , the crowd later increased after reports spread that the governor would distribute N10,000 to those gathered.
The reports allegedly attracted additional people, including women, to the Government House.
The circumstances surrounding how the crowd became uncontrollable and led to the fatal stampede were not immediately clear.
The incident has raised fresh concerns about crowd management and the circumstances under which members of the public were allowed to converge at the Government House.
The Niger State Government had not issued a detailed statement on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Bago, Bologi Ibrahim, said the state government would issue a statement in due course.
The spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, also said he would verify the incident and provide further details.
The stampede comes barely days after Governor Bago inaugurated a nine-member judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 37 miners in NSCDC custody.
The federal government has also constituted an independent investigative committee to probe the deaths, with the panel saying it would establish what happened and determine responsibility where necessary.
