Why did at least 67 people die in Christmas charity stampedes in troubled Nigeria?

ABUJA – Jostling during three Christmas charity events across Nigeria left at least 67 dead last week, including many children. Families are struggling during the country’s crisis worst cost of living crisis in one generation.

At least 35 children were killed in the southwestern state of Oyo on Wednesday. And on Saturday, 22 people died in the southeastern state of Anambra, while 10 people died in the capital, Abuja, where more than 1,000 people had gathered at a church to receive clothing and food.

Here’s why people in Africa’s most populous country are risking their lives to make donations this holiday season.

Inflation at its highest level in 28 years

“There is hunger in this Nigeria. Every Nigerian needs food,” a tearful woman told local Arise television after the stampede in Abuja.

The economic crisis is blamed on government policies aimed at saving money and attracting investors, which helped push the inflation rate to a 28-year high of 34.6%. Meanwhile, the naira currency is languishing at record lows against the dollar.

At least 63 percent of Nigeria’s more than 210 million people are poor, according to the government’s statistics office. The government has struggled to create jobs. And when people gather to protest the hardship, security forces move quickly to quell the situation. In August, more than 20 people were shot by security forces during nationwide protests.

“The average Nigerian has seen food become beyond their reach,” said Cheta Nwanze, managing partner of Lagos-based research firm SBM Intelligence. In 2022, the company found that about 97% of Nigerians spend up to 63% of their income on food, but this share must have increased since then, he said.

Some of those who died in Abuja had waited all night outside the church in cold weather for the chance to enter early, according to Loveth Inyang, a witness who saved a baby from the crush.

Security is also expensive

Deadly stampedes are not new to Nigeria and are often caused by lack of compliance with public safety measures. But analysts say people’s desperation to survive makes crowd control more difficult.

Accounts from witnesses and police officers in Abuja and Anambra showed that the stampedes occurred before the events began, as people attempted to obtain privileged positions.

In Abuja, the church was forced to cancel the event, leaving bags of rice and clothes inside.

Organizers of such charity events often do not consider security a priority, said Ademola Adetuberu, who runs Abuja-based security firm Barricade Executive Protection.

Meanwhile, the number of events is increasing as philanthropists and organizations try to meet the growing demand for food.

“If organizers of such events think more, take professional advice and have a budget for security, this can be avoided,” Adetuberu said.

How the authorities react

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has called on authorities to no longer tolerate “operational failures” by organizers of such events, while police have made it mandatory for organizers to obtain prior authorization before hosting them.

But such commitments are not new and are generally difficult to implement, analysts say.

“People’s incomes have been reduced throughout the year. When they hear somewhere that food is being distributed, their natural instinct is to go,” Nwanze said. “Add that to our notoriously poor queuing culture and you have the perfect storm that will lead to a such a rush.”