Attahiru Jega's Brother, Others Die In Mecca Stampede
Justice Abdulkadir Jega, the brother of the former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, has died in the stampede in Mecca.
Vanguard reports that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, made a statement on Saturday, September 26, in which he disclosed that two Court of Appeal Justices were among those who died during the stampede that led to the death of over 700 pilgrims at Mina.
The CJN gave the names of the deceased justices as Abdulkadir Jega who was the Presiding Justice of the Abuja Division of the appellate court and Justice Musa Hassan Alkali of the Ilorin Division.
Justice Mohammed expressed condolences to the families of the deceased, the Court of Appeal, the Judiciary and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Mecca Stampede: More Nigerians Confirmed Dead
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Samaila Yombe, the deputy governor of Kebbi state, confirming the death of Abdulkadir Jega, adding that the judge was caught up in the tragedy while on his way to perform the ritual of stoning.
Yombe stated that the Amirul Hajj and Emir of Argungu, Samaila Mera, speaker of the State House of Assembly and his deputy, Governor Atiku Bagudu’s family were among pilgrims who survived the incident.
Speaking about the tragedy, the deputy governor insisted that the incident at Jamra was not a stampede.
“Whoever said it was a stampede either does not know the meaning of a stampede or he is not saying the truth. What actually happened was that the entire pilgrims scheduled to throw Jamrat at that time, were channeled to follow one particular street.
“At a time, we got to a certain point at 8:00am, where military vehicle was set across to create a barrier. And then some of the Saudi soldiers were standing by, suggesting that, you cannot pass beyond that point.
READ ALSO: Mecca Tragedy: Holding Saudi Arabia Accountable
“About 5,000 people coming from same direction were not aware of the road in front, which resulted to a ‘sardining’ so to speak, which made it very difficult for us to even stand. So, we continued to squat to make room for fresh air while the temperature was about 47 degrees Celsius.
“Pilgrims, in an effort to get fresh air, attempted to scale fences of tents on both sides of the road. Very few succeeded, while most people just succumbed to the situation."
It has been earlier confirmed that Taraba Amirul Hajj for the 2015 pilgrimage, Alhaji Abbas Ibrahim, the First Class ruler of Zing, died in the stampede in Mecca.
The chairman of the Taraba State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board said that the body of the late traditional ruler and his two wives had been recovered and buried in Makkah on Friday, September 25.
Speaking with the Punch, an official of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria said that about 100 Nigerians might have died in the stampede that occurred when pilgrims were going to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil in Mina.
READ ALSO: 5 Nigerian Pilgrims Missing In Saudi Arabia
He added that more Nigerian victims were discovered when the commission’s officials joined their colleagues from other countries’ in Mina morgue to identify their nationalities.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari extended condolences to the families of over 700 pilgrims who lost their lives in a horrible disaster. He noted that the stampede at Mina is a monumental tragedy, not only for citizens of the countries involved, but for the global Islamic community.
Source: Legit.ng
