Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State clarified that the tragic deaths of two students at Nasarawa State University during a stampede at a palliative distribution event were not due to negligence on the part of the government.
Governor Sule stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
It was reported that the governor had instructed the distribution of two 7.5 kg bags of rice and N5,000 to each student of the state university in Keffi, the capital city of Nasarawa State.
During the distribution of the palliatives, a tragic incident occurred, resulting in the deaths of two students, Grace Danladi and Rose Michael, while others sustained injuries in the stampede.
Human rights advocate Femi Falana, in a statement provided to Vanguard on Sunday, attributed the deaths of the Nasarawa State University students to official negligence. Falana lamented the unfortunate loss of lives and criticized the university authorities for not learning from a previous stampede incident in Lagos, where seven individuals lost their lives during the distribution of 25kg bags of rice by the Nigeria Customs Service.
Despite Falana’s remarks, the senior lawyer urged for an investigation into the allegations of criminal negligence leading to the students’ deaths by directing the Nassarawa State police command to intervene.
In response to Falana’s statement, Governor Sule asserted, “It’s not something that happened due to negligence on the part of the government.”
“It’s very unfortunate that it happened but it had nothing to do with any planning, it has nothing to do with any negligence. We have been to eight places.
“It was the last place, which would have been the ninth institution that we went. So, all these other places that we went, everything went so smooth.”
According to him, the stampede was not because of planning but because some students thought that their names were being replaced by the Students’ Union Government of the institution, hence the anxiety.
Sule said, “We are very sad that two students died. We are talking with the families. So, for somebody to politicise it? It’s unfortunate that we are in a country where everybody looks at a tragedy and politicise it.
“During the process, they (students)overpowered the security and God was so kind, the security did not open fire on anybody. So, it’s not like anybody was shot.
“It was during the stampede that happened, maybe, these two students fell and other students marched on them. So, who are you going to look for compensation from? The students or the management of the university.”
The governor said his deputy and commissioners had paid condolence visits to the families of the two deceased students.
Sule said, “We are going to support the family with some form of assistance but I am not going to use the word ‘compensation’ because it’s not something that happened on the part of negligence by the government.”