Police commence investigation into Ibadan funfair stampede

The Oyo State Police Command said it has commenced investigations into the stampede that left no fewer than 35 children dead at a funfair held at Islamic High School, Orita Bashorun in Ibadan on Wednesday,.

The spokesman of the Oyo State Police Command, Adewale Osefiso, disclosed this on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief on Friday, a day after President Bola Tinubu has ordered a probe into the stampede.

“Investigations are in progress, but from the preliminary findings, it was discovered that at some point the fair, they were supposed to go in with a token, at some point the prices were slashed and later, some had the opportunity of going in free,” Osefiso said.

“So, at some point, something must have gone wrong as regards some sort of agitation. In this case, when it comes to crowd control, anything could have triggered it; it could be excitement, it could be fear, it could be panic.

“Judging by the space, which at the end of the day we discovered that the crowd that got into that place which was not the originally planned number, could have also contributed to the stampede because those going in actually did most of the damage to those already in.”

Osefiso explained on the program that the number of children that attended the funfair more than the expected number.

“The projected capacity of crowd that they expected exceeded, and a stampede ensued. As a matter of fact, the programme had not even started properly when the stampede started,” he said

“Sadly, we recorded as a Command 35 minors dying and of course 6 being critically injured and presently responding to various medical interventions.”

Six persons were also critically injured and are currently receiving treatment following the incident which has drawn criticism from the society, including the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragic occurrence.