ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from stampedes during two Christmas charity events in Nigeria has increased from 13 to 32, police said Sunday. The victims, including at least four children, collapsed during crowd surges as people grew desperate for food items while the country grapples with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
The dead included 22 people in southeastern Anambra state’s Okija town, where a philanthropist on Saturday organized a food distribution, local police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. Ten others died in the capital, Abuja, during a church-organized similar charity event.
Police said they were investigating the two incidents, only days after another stampede in which 35 children were killed.
Africa’s most populous country is seeing a growing trend by local organizations, churches and individuals to organize charity events ahead of Christmas 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, as dozens tried to enter the premises at around 4 a.m., hours before gift items were to be shared.
Some of them, including older people, waited overnight to get food, said Loveth Inyang, who rescued one baby from the crush.
The stampedes prompted growing calls for authorities to enforce safety measures at such events. Nigerian police also mandated that organizers obtain prior permission.
Cars drive past Christmas decorations on a street in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A man rides a motorcycle taxi past Christmas decorations on a street in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A man rides a bicycle past Christmas decorations on a street in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis called for a ceasefire on all war fronts in his Sunday Angelus prayer ahead of Christmas, condemning the “cruelty” of bombing schools and hospitals in Ukraine and Gaza.
“Let the weapons fall silent and let the Christmas carols ring out!” Francis said, delivering his Sunday blessing from indoors due to a cold and as a precaution ahead of a busy Christmas period.
“Let us pray that at Christmas there will be a ceasefire on all war fronts, in Ukraine, in the Holy Land, throughout the Middle East and throughout the world,” the pope said.
Francis recalled, as he often does, the “battered Ukraine” that continues to be hit by attacks on cities, “which sometimes damage schools, hospitals and churches.”
He also expressed his pain thinking of Gaza, “of such cruelty, to the machine-gunning of children, to the bombing of schools and hospitals ... How much cruelty!”
Francis on Saturday also criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza and said that his envoy had been unable to enter the territory because of Israeli bombing. Israeli authorities on Sunday allowed Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the leader of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, to enter Gaza and celebrate a pre-Christmas Mass with members of the territory’s small Christian community.
Israel says it has made great efforts to spare civilians and is only at war with Hamas, which it accuses of genocidal violence in the attack that ignited the war.
The pontiff, who turned 88 this past week, appeared in good shape on Sunday, after looking wheezing and congested during his annual Christmas greeting to Vatican bureaucrats on Saturday.
The Vatican cited the cold temperatures outside and Francis’ strenuous week ahead in deciding to deliver his Sunday blessing indoors.
The pope on Tuesday is due to inaugurate his big Holy Year and preside over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations in St. Peter’s Basilica. On Thursday, he is scheduled to travel to Rome’s main prison to inaugurate the Jubilee there.
Francis has long suffered bouts of bronchitis, especially in winter. In 2023, he ended up in hospital to receive intravenous antibiotics. He had part of one lung removed as a young man and frequently seems out of breath, especially after walking or exerting himself.
Carabinieri police officers patrol as people look at giant screens in St.Peter's Square showing Pope Francis reciting the Angelus noon prayer from his Santa Marta Residence, after he decided not to appear at the window of his studio overlooking the square because of a persistent cold, at the Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People hold statuettes of baby Jesus as they look at a giant screen in St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, showing Pope Francis reciting the Angelus noon prayer from his Santa Marta Residence, after he decided not to appear at the window of his studio overlooking the square because of a persistent cold, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People look at a giant screen in St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, showing Pope Francis reciting the Angelus noon prayer from his Santa Marta Residence, after he decided not to appear at the window of his studio overlooking the square because of a persistent cold, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People look at a giant screen in St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, showing Pope Francis reciting the Angelus noon prayer from his Santa Marta Residence, after he decided not to appear at the window of his studio overlooking the square because of a persistent cold, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People hold statuettes of baby Jesus as they look at a giant screen in St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, showing Pope Francis reciting the Angelus noon prayer from his Santa Marta Residence, after he decided not to appear at the window of his studio overlooking the square because of a persistent cold, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
