More than four months after tens of people, mostly women and children were killed in a stampede at a church programme at the Polo Field in Port Harcourt, surviving victims and families of those that died in the incident are yet to receive any form of support from the church, government and the state.
National Point investigations reveal that the victims of the stampede have been abandoned and left to their fate, with a lot of them suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders. They appear to have been left with the option to find means of seeking redress from the church and the state.
Samuel Orji Eke, the father of Delight, one of the boys that died in the stampede told National Point that his wife, who was also trampled on at the stampede was now relapsing into regular feats when effects of the medications administered to calm her down fades off.
Eke and his entire family were invited to the church programme organised by the Kings Assembly, Tombia Road Extension G.R.A. Phase III on May 26, 2022 to benefit from a give-out scheme tagged Shop-for-Free.
A stampede occurred when thousands of those waiting to gain access to the Polo Field Venue attempted to gain entry through a narrow gate. Initial police report stated that 31 people died immediately. But more deaths were recorded subsequently, as help failed to reach the victims.
In many cases, families recorded multiple deaths like the case of a policewoman, Daniella who died alongside her two daughters. The victims were not limited to Christians. Some Moslems who were at the venue to benefit from the programme also lost their lives.
Mr Confidence Demua, a native of Kono in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State lost his young wife and her niece who lived with them, in the incident.
It was a similar story for Mrs. Jennifer Jackson, whose 16-year-old daughter, Precious, died in the stampede. It was the same story for Raymond Ihejirika, who lost his mother and his younger sister in the incident. The victims came from families that came from faraway places like Bayelsa, Imo and Akwa Ibom State to attend the programme.
But the victims said apart from the relief materials sent by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to them in July, no other assistance has come to them.
Eke said the initial show of concern by officials of the church to their plight has petered out and they no longer take their calls. He said a member of the church reliably told him that some funds were set aside by the church to take care of the victims but it appeared that someone in the church was sittings on it.
“I don’t know if they have eaten the money. But that is what the church member told me. If we are calling them on phone, their lines are not going through. But if we use a different number and call, it will go through,” Eke lamented.
He said one of the pastors told him that the church had tried its best for the victims including paying for the the corpses that were still unclaimed in the mortuary.
Mrs. Comfort Eselema, whose granddaughter died in the stampede, however said that she was leaving the matter to God. She however said she would expect support from government or the church to start restaurant to help her restart her life with her family.
“I don’t know how you people can help us. All of us are tired and stranded,” Eke said
