By Usman Muhammad Ameer
Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule, and the Vice Chancellor of Nasarawa State University Keffi, Professor Suleiman Bala Muhammad, have condoled parents of the two students that lost their lives in a stampede during the distribution of rice to students of the university as palliative on friday (22/03/2024).
The Governor who spoke through his deputy, Dr Emmanuel Akabi, and the Vice Chancellor, in emotion laden addresses while answering questions from newsmen, expressed deep regret over the incident, asked the parents to take consolation in God.
The deputy governor assured both parents of the palliative victims and the university community that the state government which deeply regrets the unfortunate incident will set up a committee to find out the cause of the tragedy with a view to avert its reoccurrence in the future.
The Vice Chancellor said, “Even though the tragic and unexpected death of the two innocent students is regrettable and very painful, because of their youthful age, I want to remind us that all of us are mortals, and as mortals therefore, there is time for everything, there is time to be born, and there is time to die; and anybody that dies, that marks the end of his life as decreed by our Almighty creator”.
“I am sure that the God that created them loves them better than all of us. We however pray to the Almighty God to grant them eternal peace, and to console their families and the entire members of the university community”, he said.
“We will reach out to the parents of the deceased, we will personally visit them to officially pay our condolences to them”, he added.
On how to avert future reoccurrence of the tragic incident, the Vice Chancellor revealed that apart from committee the state government plans to set up, the university will also set up its committee to investigate what actually happened. The two committees to be set up by both the state government and the university are going to give recommendations on how to avert reoccurrence of similar incident in the future.
“I believe that by the time the two reports are submitted, we are going to have scientific understanding of what has happened, why it happened, and what can be done to avert its reoccurrence in the future, because it is very critical that we take measures. This is particularly important because it will help the state government to map out strategies of how to embark on similar activities in the future”, he stressed.
As at the time of filing this report, corpses of the deceaseds have been deposited at the federal medical center keffi , where the injured are presently receiving treatments.
It would be recalled that the Nasarawa state government had since last wednesday sent 40,000 mini bags of rice to the university to be distributed to the students as palliative, the distribution of which led to a stampede that led to the death of two female students.
PRESS RELEASE
PALLIATIVE: NSUK MOURNS DEATH OF ITS STUDENTS
The management of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, mourns the death of two of its students who lost their lives during the official distribution of palliatives (rice) organized by the Nasarawa State Government through the Office of the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and NGOs, midwifed by the Students Union Government of the University.
Recall that the palliative commodities have been in the university since Wednesday, March 20th, 2024. Information was disseminated by the union officials about the arrangement for the distribution to the beneficiaries, scheduled for Friday 22nd March, 2024.
Students arrived at the convocation arena as early as 2:00 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2024, and gathered in the vicinity until about 9 am when the screening process was set to commence.
Breakdown of law and order due to the crowd led to forceful entry into the arena, resulting in a stampede that claimed the lives of the two (2) students, while 23 others sustained injuries.
Normalcy has since been restored as management investigates the cause of the incident. The Management urges Students to remain calm and continue with their academic activities and corporate with the investigation panels.
We mourn the death of these students, may their souls rest in peace.
Abraham Habu Ekpo
Head, Information and Protocol Unit