Yoruba Elders Commiserate With Families Of Ibadan Stampede Victims

Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has commiserated with the families of victims of the Ibadan Christmas funfair tragedy, calling on governments to view the intention of the estranged wife of Ooni of Ife, Queen Naomi Silekunola, from a humanitarian perspective.

Apparently reacting to the Ibadan stampede that led to the death of about 32 people, YCE through its secretary-general, Chief Oladipo Oyewole, said, “That is the noble position of the YCE.”

While noting that life in Nigeria has been tough, the group stated that the gloomy situation in the land would make the hungry, and the needy-masses to seek temporary succour by looking for survival in whatever form – food or money for food – wherever it may appear from.

The secretary-general maintained that there was hardship in the land to the extent that there is hardly any adult Nigerian who presently cannot share an experience of the disgrace and low level of pity to which “our humanity has been subjected.”

Oyewole said the gathering of children and the adults who took them to the venue in Ibadan should be viewed as a serious reflection of lack of social security for all Nigerians.

He added that those children would have been taken to such a location as described in Ibadan because of freebies which otherwise ought to have been provided by their parents, government or by accredited government agencies.