Peter Obi has blamed hunger and systemic failures for the recent spate of stampedes nationwide.
Scores of people were dead and many others wounded in the tragic incidents in Ibadan, Oyo State; Okija in Anambra; and another one in the nation’s capital of Abuja. The stampedes happened in five days, with the last two occurring during food distribution campaigns on Saturday morning.
Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, said the incidents underline the rising hunger in the country, leading to desperation.
“I am deeply saddened and distressed by the tragic loss of lives in desperate searches for food,” Obi, who is a former governor of Anambra State, wrote in a post on his X account Saturday afternoon.
“While I will not cast blame but instead appreciate the organisers of these respective events for their kind gestures in providing palliatives and support to society, especially the poor, these tragedies reflect the systemic failures that plague our society,” he said.
“The desperate quest for survival in these harsh economic times has driven our people to extremes in their search for food, often at the cost of their lives.
“This morning, reports emerged of at least 10 people losing their lives in Abuja while scrambling for palliatives, with many others injured.”
He wondered why Nigeria, which is “blessed with abundant resources,” would have its people “dying of hunger in such numbers.”.
“How is it possible that we cannot feed our citizens despite the vast, fertile lands our nation is endowed with? My heart bleeds,” he said.
