By Lateef Ibrahim Abuja
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed profound sorrow over reports that three people died in a stampede at the Niger State Government House, after a crowd gathered amid reports that ₦10,000 would be distributed.
Atiku, in a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, said the dead must be remembered as people with names, families and futures, not reduced to a grim headline about a crowd.
“Three Nigerians reportedly went to a Government House and did not return home. I mourn them with their families. I pray for those who were injured and call for their immediate care,” Atiku said.
“That people would rush towards the possibility of ₦10,000 tells us something painful about the pressure on Nigerian households. “But desperation must never be met with a distribution arrangement that puts lives at risk. Help offered in the name of government must be organised with dignity and with the safety of the people as its first concern”, he said.
Atiku called on the Niger State Government to establish the full circumstances of the deaths, publish an account of how the gathering was announced and managed, and provide meaningful support to the bereaved families and injured persons.
According to him, “There must be no attempt to blame the victims for seeking help. The question for those in authority is how three lives came to be lost at the gates of government, and what will be done to ensure it never happens again.
“As Nigeria approaches Independence Day, this tragedy demands more than condolences. A nation cannot call itself prosperous while its citizens risk their lives for ₦10,000. We must make life affordable again and treat every Nigerian life as precious”, the statement concluded.
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