I Was So Lucky Not To Have Join Zakkat Victims, Says Committee Chairman

BY KHALID IDRIS DOYA, Bauchi

Abdulmuminu Zakkat Distribution Committee Chairman, Professor Ahmad Muhammad Set’le has said that he was lucky Sunday not to have join the assemblage of the departed souls when the zakkat giving out exercise turned into an uncontrollable crowd.

The Professor said, “I myself, I was so lucky not to have join them because I was pressed-up on the building’s gate iron bar, with my shirt scattered all over the iron bar”.

“What actually happened was the people that came whom we did not invite them. It is a yearly event that we normally give out some money to the less-privileged people”.

He positioned, “They envisaged that we are doing it Sunday, yesterday, so they came in their number. We have security corporate people, the police that take care of security, but because of the high number that came, they were not able to control the crowd”, Prof. Mohammed told newsmen Monday. 

Muhammad, who is a professor of animal science with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi added, “The individual vulnerable people, each in an effort to get the zakkat rush while others are already sitting on the door to the inside premises”.

“So those struggling to fastly get the money stampede over those sitting on the door, and unfortunately we have some of them that were unconscious who were later confirmed dead in the hospital. I myself, I was so lucky not to join them because I was pressed on the gate iron bar”.

Professor Ahmad Muhammad explained that initially they woke up with casualties of seven deaths, but as of Monday afternoon, they were informed of an addition of one death that they equally went to the deceased family house to console them.

According to him, the police have confirmed that the one they were told later was among the casualties in the incident that raised the number of deaths to eight in the zakkat scramble.

He however debunked the claim that even last year there were some injuries during the zakkat distribution, saying “I was around last year during the exercise and there wasn’t a single injury, so whoever says so is a lie”.

Professor assured that they went round to console families of the stampede victims, saying “We were also in pain as they are”.

“Unfortunately, when we started, I think we had gone two and a half hours into the programme when we had a serious push that we would not be able to contain, and we had to suspend the exercise, which helped in controlling further casualties”, he concluded.