At least three persons have lost their lives in Borno State, while 21 others were injured in a stampede during a cash disbursement in Bama LGA of Borno state.
Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert focused on the Lake Chad region, made this known on Friday.
He said the humanitarian exercise was organised by the Nigerian Red Cross Society, NRCS, and the United Nations International Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
According to him, the stampede occurred at about 8am on Thursday at Kasugula Primary School, one of the designated payment centres in the LGA.
He explained that the beneficiaries had gathered to receive flat-rate cash assistance of N28,500, before the crowd went out of control and surged toward the school gate, resulting in a stampede.
Those who sustained varying degrees of injuries included Falmata Modu, Tella Tujani, Bulama Yakime, Amina Mohammed, Mallam Akura, Fatima Bukar, Yagana Ibrahim, Fatima Mohammed, Fatima Abatcha, Zara Lawan, Inde Modu, and Aisha Abdullahi.
One of the deceased, identified as 60-year-old Bukar Labddo of Bukar Tela ward, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, while the other two died later while undergoing treatment.