At least 67 dead in Nigeria after deadly stampedes within days of each other | World News

Police in Nigeria say at least 67 people have died after three stampedes within days of each other.

On Saturday, 32 people were killed, including at least four children, during Christmas charity events as crowds surged forward while food was being handed out.

Of those killed, 22 died in the town of Okija, in the southeastern state of Anambra, after a philanthropist organised an event to distribute food, local police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said.

Ten others died in the capital, Abuja, during a similar event organised by a local church.

Africa’s most populous country is seeing a growing trend by local organisations, churches and individuals to ease economic hardship caused by a cost-of-living crisis.

Witnesses of the Abuja stampede told the Associated Press there was a crowd surge at one of the church gates. Some people had waited overnight to get food.

On Wednesday, another stampede killed 35 children at a holiday funfair in southwestern Nigeria.

It happened at a school in Basorun in the state of Oyo although the exact cause is not clear.

A local radio station, Agidigbo FM, had reportedly suggested children could win prizes and gifts at the event.

The organisers were arrested, state governor Seyi Makinde said in a statement.

“We are not exonerating anybody who’s connected with this organisation of the event,” Oyo state deputy governor Bayo Lawal said as he visited a hospital treating some of the injured.

But he said the government is awaiting a report on what happened.