Oyo Tragedy: Ebonyi cancels Makinde’s birthday lecture, book launch

Leaders of Ebonyi State and the South-east region on Thursday cancelled the birthday lecture and book launch in honour of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State over the tragedy which claimed the lives of 35 children on Wednesday in Ibadan.

The event organisers announced the cancellation to guests who had gathered for the event at the venue in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi state.

Mr Makinde and his Ebonyi counterpart, Francis Nwifuru, were scheduled to attend the event. Ben Obi, a former senator, was billed to be the guest lecturer.

Ebonyi, South-east mourn with Makinde, Oyo

A former governor of Ebonyi, Sam Egwu, who was to chair the birthday lecture and book launch, and the chief organiser, Ali Odefa, spoke to the guests.

Afterwards, a minute silence was observed in honour of the victims.

Mr Odefa, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, noted that Governor Makinde and Oyo State cannot mourn, and the event will go on in Ebonyi.

He said, “My friend had prepared to come here and be with us today. He sent an advance team two days ago. The advance team and the chief of staff have been here two days ago.

“But when this incident happened, there is no how a state will be mourning, some families, because of this incident, do not know the meaning of Christmas anymore.

“They cannot be crying while we are dancing and rejoicing. So, it is painful, it is sad, but that’s the reality.”

He said the leaders at the event met and decided to postpone it.

“If you look at this place, you will see that this is a gathering of Igbo leaders, non-partisan. We are not talking about party A or party B. These are a collection of Igbo leaders here sitting. So, we have decided to cancel the event for today and shift it to another time.

“We will tell you the date when that one has been fixed. And we will make efforts to bring all of you together again.”

Mr Egwu commiserated with the families, the governor and the people of Oyo State over the tragedy.

“It would not be right to have a function when the chief celebrant is mourning.

“It is also not right that parents who lost their children are mourning and crying, and we are here celebrating.

“The parents of these children are mourning. Nigerians are mourning. And our brother, for whom we are here, is also mourning. We want to mourn with him.

“We want to mourn with the people, the government of Oyo State. Because the Bible says when your brother is mourning, you should mourn with him,” Mr Egwu said.

Police confirm casualties, arrest

A stampede at a children’s carnival in Ibadan on Wednesday, 18 December, caused the death of many children.

The police on Thursday confirmed that 35 minors died in the stampede while six others were critically injured and undergoing various medical interventions.

The police also confirmed the arrest of eight people, including Naomi Silekunola, the former wife of the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, over the tragedy.