Survivors of the Ibadan stampede have recounted their painful experience that claimed the lives of 35 minors during a children’s funfair at Islamic High School in Bashorun on Wednesday.
One of the grieving mothers, Mrs. Adijat Adewumi, known as Iya Ola, recounted the heartbreaking loss of her two children. In an interview, with Vanguard she described the eerie events leading up to the tragedy.
“A few days before the funfair, a pastor from a white garment church, a man I didn’t know, told me to fast and pray for three days,” she said. “I thought it was just a spiritual exercise, not a warning about what was to come.”
Mrs. Adewumi explained that she heard about the funfair on Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat’s popular program and saw it as an opportunity for her children to have a joyful day.
“I wanted them to forget our struggles, even if just for a day,” she said, her voice breaking. “As we got to the entrance, chaos erupted. I pushed through the crowd to get my children in first, but as the gates opened, a wave of people surged forward.
“In an instant, I lost sight of my children. The noise was deafening, and I couldn’t find them. Then the realization of the pastor’s warning hit me. If only I had listened. The stampede claimed my children. The pain is indescribable. It’s like losing a part of my soul.”
She added, “I am a Muslim, but I believe God speaks to us in different ways. I wish I had been more vigilant.”
A 30-year-old hairstylist, who brought her three-year-old child to the funfair, recounted her near-death experience to the PUNCH and the terror of almost losing her child in the stampede.
“We got to the venue just before 6 am,” she said. “The crowd was enormous—over 10,000 people were at the entrance of Islamic High School. It was hard to breathe because of the crowd’s intensity. My child was strapped to my back, and she was getting suffocated by the heat.”
The mother explained that the situation escalated when one of the event’s organizers, Mr. Oriyomi Hamzat, arrived.
“As soon as the gate was opened, the crowd surged forward. People began pushing, and the stampede started. My baby fell from my back to the ground and was trampled upon.
“I could barely move under the weight of people falling on me. I heard my baby’s faint cries, but I couldn’t see her. By divine intervention, someone heard her and managed to push people away. That was how my baby was saved, but it was also how so many lost their lives.”
The funfair, organized by Prophetess Naomi Silekunola, the former wife of the Ooni of Ife, was meant to accommodate 5,000 attendees.
Promoted extensively on Agidigbo FM, the promise of free entry, gifts, and scholarships attracted a massive crowd, with people traveling from far and wide to attend.
The overwhelming number of attendees far exceeded the expected turnout, and the inadequate crowd control measures led to the stampede.
