Food queue stampedes happened in US, not exclusive to Nigeria – Minister

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Nentawe Yilwatda, said food queue stampedes are not limited to Nigeria, stressing that they have also happened in advanced parts of the world like the United States.

This is as he blamed poor organisation for the food queue stampedes that recently happened in parts of Nigeria during the 2024 Yuletide season.

Yilwatda stated this on Tuesday when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s 2024 Year-End Review.

“Stampedes have taken place in more developed countries than Nigeria.

“If you recall Hurricane Katrina in the US when they had food distribution because of poor organisation, they had stampede.

“Also, in the school food distribution in Texas, in the US, the same thing happened. It has happened in several countries that are more developed than Nigeria, where you have poor organisation,” the minister said.

Recall that three major food queue stampedes were recorded in Oyo, Anambra and Nigeria’s capital city Abuja, respectively, where no fewer than 70 lives were lost.

Many blamed the unfortunate incidents on hunger and the high cost of food, while the private organisers of the food distribution programmes have been detained by the police.

According to the minister, the Federal Government is the biggest distributor of relief materials to the poorest of the poor in Nigeria.

He added that the government distributes relief materials more than private individuals yet no stampede has been experienced in government programmes.

Yilwatda urged private persons willing to donate relief items to Nigerians to get the proper organisation right and seek the ministry’s help.