Crowd Stampede: Lagos Govt Makes Obtainment Of ‘Clearance’ Mandatory For People Who Intend To Make Charitable Giving

Anyone planning to make charitable giving and distribute food items or money to residents of Lagos State must henceforth obtain ‘clearance’ from the State Government before doing this in order to prevent crowd crushes.

The state government has also warned prospective event managers in the state to ensure strict compliance with safety measures during the yuletide season and beyond.

This was apparently done as a proactive measure to prevent crowd crush in the state.

 Recall that at least 35 children were killed and six others critically injured in a crowd crush at a funfair in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, last week Wednesday.

The event was organized by Agidigbo FM and the Women in Need of Guidance and Support (WING).

Recall also that at least 10 people reportedly died in the crowd stampede that was recorded during the distribution of food parcels at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church , Maitama, Abuja, on Saturday morning while a crowd crush that led to the death of more than 3  people also occured  at the gate of the Obijackson Centre, Okija,  Ihiala Local Government, Anambra State on the same day.

They were there to receive the food items made available by an indigene of the town, Chief Ernest Obiejesi (Obijackson).

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the measures taken by the Lagos State Government were disclosed during the joint press conference organised by the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations and the Ministry of Information and Strategy at Alausa-Ikeja on Sunday.

 Commissioner for Information,  Mr Gbenga Omotoso, said this had become  necessary following crowd stampedes that were recorded in some parts of the country as well as the reported stage collapse incident at a beach event in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Omotoso urged event organisers to make adequate preparations for crowd control before embarking on any charitable giving so as to forestall crowd stampedes.

‘We are here on behalf of the governor to tell Lagosians that he (the governor) feels concerned about the report of crowd stampedes in some parts of the country and will not want such to happen here in Lagos. In Lagos State, we have adequate preparations for every big event and we do so every year, we used to have the Greater Lagos Fiesta, and this year, we added the Boat Regatta and others.

Unfortunately, we got a report that at the Sol Beach Victoria Island, there was a stage collapse during an event that was held there and fortunately, nobody died in that incident. This has made us say that we do not want the matter to just slide away.

 To prevent such occurrences in Lagos State, all individuals or groups that intend to hold an event or distribute any items at all to large gatherings of people are advised to seek clearance from the Safety Commission’ he said.

Omotoso noted that the Lagos Safety Commission has a partnership with security agencies that are well-equipped to control crowds and would connect individuals and groups to the appropriate agencies for proper operational event management.

‘Any act of charity should not turn tragic for our people, so, to those who feel that the government is just doing this for nothing and can just gather a crowd and begin distribution of items and huge crowd beefs up and tragic incidents happen, the person will have himself or herself to blame’ he added.

 Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Gbenga Oyerinde, urged Lagos residents to monitor happenings in their environment and enjoined them to call available hotlines during emergencies.

Speaking on safety measures, the Director-General of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola, said the state has been conscious of the safety of residents of the state in the past years which was visibly demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mojola, who listed causes of crowd crush during the distribution of food items to include  rushing, negligence, complacency and frustration on the part of the people , said event planners must follow safety rules and residents or anyone who wishes to do charity for people who are over 250 people must contact the agency-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you