Woman dies in stampede while struggling for Gov.'s money gift

According to reports, the governor, in continuation of his state wide tour, had visited the local government and on getting to the market, gave the market women the sum of N1 million and the women began scrambling for the free money and Effiong, who had only gone to the market to buy foodstuff, decided to partake of the free money but ended up losing her life in the process.

According to her husband, Gabriel Dick Effiong, his wife only went to the market to buy food items, but did not know how she became involved with the governor’s money.

Effiong said that when the governor arrived at the market, he told the women that he was going to give them N1 million to share among themselves and when he was leaving, the money was handed over to the market leader, Madam Edemawang Udo, and immediately Emmanuel left, all hell was let loose as people struggled to get their hands on the money.

“My wife was in the market to buy food items. When the governor arrived at the market, he asked for the market leader so that he could give them N1m to share among themselves.

Then Emmanuel handed the money over to the elderly woman and instructed her to share it with the other women and then left. So, the women themselves began to drag the elderly woman to share the money, but from what I heard, there was confusion all over the place.

So, the old woman was dragged here and there, and as I learnt, I did not know how the money got into my wife’s hand, before men and other women ramped into her, pushed her into the gutter and matched on her. And before anyone could realise what had happened, she had gone into coma,” the bereaved husband narrated.

The leader of the market women also narrated her own side of the story, saying she too was pushed into the gutter where she sustained injuries.

"When the governor came, he sent for me and I abandoned what I was doing and went to meet with him and he promised to give me N1 million to share with other market women.

When he was leaving, he handed the money to me but a young man who stood nearby, came to collect the money from me. A policeman asked if he was my son, I said no.

So, immediately I took the money to my stall, other women ran up to me to seize the money; and before you know, men selling beef, overpowered all of us and collected the money.

I was trampled on and thrown into the gutter; and since then, I have just come to the market. I’ve not seen a kobo of the money the governor gave to us. I don’t know if there was anybody who suffered the way I did.”