The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos has confirmed the death of one of its members, Comfort Funmilayo Adebanjo, in the bid to purchase seized rice put on sale by the Nigeria Customs Service.
The party made the confirmation on Saturday in an obituary message released to mourn the late party member and those feared dead.
According to Vanguard, the Controller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, flagged off the sale of the seized rice at astronomicallyreducex price of N10,000 per bag of 25 kilograms to cushion the effects of the economic hardship in the country.
Adeniyi, performed the ceremony at the Yaba, Lagos State office of the service.
Since the flag-off of the sale, several Nigerians have been thronging the venue in Lagos, with similar exercises around the country.
However, there was a stampede on Friday, which led to the death of seven persons including Oluwafemi Fadahunsi Comfort.
In a short message shared on WhatsApp, the APC leadership in Ward E1 Surulere, Lagos, announced that Adebanjo Comfort Funmilayo, one of its members, died during the stampede that occurred at the customs office in Yaba.
“It is with a heavy heart and regret that we announce the painful death of one of our members in WARD E1, Mrs Adebanjo Comfort Funmilayo of house number 104, Ibidun street by Akinhanmi street, Ojuelegba,” the statement reads.
“She was among the 7 victims that died in the course of buying custom rice at Yaba.
“May God grant all the members of her family and all the residents of WARD E1 the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.”
Speaking with TheCable on Sunday, Abdullahi Maiwada, NCS public relations officer, said the stampede occurred “because Nigerians, who came for the exercise, did not obey simple instructions for the distribution of the items”.
Maiwada said the incident was not due to a “lack of coordination” on the part of the agency but the “attitude of Nigerians”.
“We started an orderly process, and people benefited from it until Nigerians decided not to be orderly and conform to simple instructions and directives. That is what led to what happened,” he said.
“The CGC was at that scene from the beginning to the end of that process. He pleaded with them to comply with the simple directive, and that we have more than enough to distribute.
“Some Nigerians decided to round trip. At a point, we stopped collecting money and started distributing it for free. But Nigerians, in their manner, started round tripping and this is what caused what happened.”
Asked to confirm the casualty toll, he said, “I can’t confirm. I’m not aware. I don’t have any assertive report for now. I neither deny nor confirm. There was a rowdy session. In fact, I am aware we took some people in our ambulance to the hospital with our medical doctors.”
