The Vice Chancellor of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Prof. Suleiman Bala-Mohammed, has identified impatience among students as the root cause of the stampede that resulted in the deaths of two students and left 14 others injured.
The tragic incident occurred on Friday when students, along with some individuals from the neighborhood, surged toward bags of rice donated by the state government to alleviate economic hardship. The rice had been stored at the institution’s convocation square, awaiting distribution by the governor.
According to reports, chaos ensued when the governor’s arrival was delayed, prompting the students and hoodlums to overpower security personnel at the gate and forcibly access the rice. In the ensuing stampede, numerous individuals were trampled, leading to casualties.
In response to the incident, Prof. Bala-Mohammed expressed regret over the loss of lives and injuries sustained, attributing the tragedy to the students’ lack of patience in waiting for the orderly distribution of the rice.
“The gesture of the state government was supposed to be a relief for the students given the hardship across the country, unfortunately the students were not patient enough to follow the process of accessing the palliatives.
“There was a stampede. So many of the students got injured. Two students lost their lives.
“What happened has hurt our reputation, our image and created a bad name for us. We will not accept that. An investigation will take place and, hopefully, we will have all the facts and information.
“For now, our thoughts and prayers are with our two deceased students and their families, members of the university community as well as those who were injured,” he said.
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