LAGOS, Dec 22, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A stampede outside a centre distributing
rice to citizens in southern Nigeria killed 22 people, authorities said
Sunday, the latest in a spate of such incidents in Africa's most populous
country.

Saturday's crowd crush in the town of Okija came on the same day a separate
stampede outside a church giving food to the "vulnerable and elderly" in the
capital Abuja killed at least 10 people, prompting Nigeria's President Bola
Tinubu to clear his schedule in the wake of the twin tragedies.

A spokesman for the Anambra state police expressed commiserations to the
families and friends of those killed in Okija.

"The investigation into the unfortunate incident is still ongoing," Anambra
police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said in a statement confirming the toll of
22 dead.

Police had previously said "many" were killed in the incident.

Four children were among the 10 killed in the Abuja stampede outside the Holy
Trinity Catholic Church in the Maitama district, police said.

Another eight people were injured in the crush, according to a police
spokesperson.

"In a season of joy and celebration, we grieve with fellow citizens mourning
the painful losses of their loved ones. Our prayers of divine comfort and
healing are with them," said President Tinubu.

Saturday's incidents followed a stampede at a school funfair in the
southwestern city of Ibadan on Thursday.

That crush killed 35 children and gravely injured six others.