6 Killed In Stampede For Ramadan Largesse In Gusau

6 trampled to death in scramble for Ramadan largesse

Six people were reported to have died in a stampede that broke out in front of a house belonging to a Gusau-based millionaire, Alhaji Shehu Danfulani Maidoya, early yesterday.

Vanguard gathered that in line with the spirit of Ramadan, the businessman had made it a point duty to assist the poor in the past 40 years.

According to the sources, this time around Maidoya planned to distribute some food items as usual, hence making hundreds of the villagers to gather in front of his house.

Hundreds of people were said to have trooped to his house as early as 5 a.m making it difficult for those assigned to distribute the food items to control the crowd.

It was alleged that some of those scrambling to get a share of the food items succeeded in pulling down the main gate of the building thereby giving access to many others.

Vanguard learnt that as a result of the development, stampede ensued, leading to the trampling of six people to death.

At press time, the corpses of the six people had been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre mortuary, Gusau.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr Usman Gwary, confirmed the death of the six people, adding that normalcy had been restored at the scene as, according to him, the police had dispersed the crowd.