By John Obi
No fewer than seven women lost their lives in Borno Northeast Nigeria on Thursday in a stampede during food distribution by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
It was gathered that thousands of people thronged the distribution site in the town of Monguno to receive food voucher from ICRC, but the situation turned chaotic, leading to a stampede, that claimed the lives of the seven women.
Current matters understands that Monguno, is about 140 kilometres (87 miles) north of the state capital Maiduguri, the town it was learned houses tens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled their homes to escape jihadist attacks and live in sprawling camps.
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According to Fatima Sator, ICRC spokeswoman in Nigeria, the event was one of the agency’s routine distributions of nutrition for pregnant and breast-feeding women.
“We are concerned and shocked by the loss of life,” Sator told AFP.
She said ICRC was offering assistance for those wounded.
Although she did not state the number of casualties,some medical officials were quoted as saying that seven persons all female died and four injured from the venue of the (food) ticket distribution,
“All the victims are women. Two of the injured are pregnant,”
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