Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election has attributed the recent devastating stampedes across the country to widespread hunger and systemic failures.
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 further explained that 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 concluded.