24th
December, 2024
PRESS
RELEASE:
ARREST ABUJA, ANAMBRA EVENT ORGANISERS OR SET IBADAN
ORGANISERS FREE – MURIC
An
Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has told
the Nigeria Police to arrest the organisers of palliative distribution in Abuja
and Anambra or set the organisers of a similar event in Ibadan free.
In a
statement issued by the Executive Director of the group, Professor Ishaq
Akintola, on Tuesday, 24th December, 2024, MURIC condemned the idea
of different treatments for the same tragic incident in three different places.
The group therefore demanded the immediate and unconditional release of those
arrested in Ibadan over the disaster.
The
full statement reads:
“Three
tragic events took place in the last few days as the distribution of
palliatives in Ibadan, Oyo State, Abuja and Okija in Anambra State led to uncontrollable
stampede which claimed the lives of about 50 people, many of them children.
“MURIC
is interested in knowing why it was only the organisers of the Ibadan event that
were arrested while those in Abuja and Okija were allegedly left free. We
therefore demand the immediate and unconditional release of the organisers of
the Ibadan event.
“Queen
Naomi Silekunola in particular is well known for her philanthropic activities
and nobody in his or her right mind will assume that she deliberately planned a
massacre.
“By
the same token, the arrest of the principal of Islamic High School, Orita
Bashorun, Ibadan, was quite unnecessary because the alumni of that school has
confirmed that the venue was approved by the Oyo State Ministry of Education
and not by the principal acting unilaterally (https://dailypost.ng/2024/12/21/ibadan-stampede-oyo-govt-not-principal-approved-venue-alumni/).
“The
Obi Jackson Foundation led by Chief Ernest Obiejesi had good intentions as
usual but things still went wrong. However, Anambra police did not haul him
into detention the way Oyo police detained Queen Naomi and Mr. Fasasi, the
school principal.
“In
the same vein, there has been no report of arrests by the Abuja police
formation over the palliative-induced stampede at the Holy Trinity Catholic
Church in Maitama, Abuja, on Saturday, 21st December, 2024.
“The Nigeria Police has left many questions unanswered
regarding its handling of the three tragic episodes. A stampede is a stampede.
One should not be differentiated from the other. Ditto for the issue of deaths.
Homo sapiens died in all the events, not goats, not dogs.
“All the organisers should have been treated
equally. But as things stand, it appears the sledgehammer descended on Ibadan
organisers alone while Abuja and Okija merely vowed to investigate the
calamities.
“There is only one way to go, viz, arrest
the organisers of the Abuja and Okija events or set the Ibadan organisers free.
The honourable thing the Oyo State Police Command can do is to set those
detained free immediately and unconditionally while the state government sets
up a panel to investigate the tragedy. The police should not blow hot and cold
at the same time.
“We condole with the bereaved families and we
pray that Allah will give them the fortitude to bear the loss. Finally, we align
with the position of the police concerning the need for organisers of future
events which are likely to draw large crowds to involve the police for security
measures and crowd control modalities.”
#PalliativeStampedes
#EqualTreatmentForAllOrganisers
Professor
Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive
Director,
Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC)
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