Worried by stampedes that claimed scores of lives during the distribution of yuletide largesse in Oyo, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, the Minority Leader of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Lukman Olalekan Adeleye, has called on the state government to constitute a crowd control and management task force.
Adeleye, who suggested that such a task force could comprise senior public officials in the state, made this call while speaking under matters of public urgent importance at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The Minority Leader, in his motion on the floor of the House, prayed that the State Government should constitute the proposed task force, comprising senior public officials from the Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Development, Special Duties, Culture and Tourism, as well as Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, to oversee the effective implementation of the House Resolution on Crowd Control and Management.
He argued that the task force, if established, would prevent incidents of poor crowd control that led to the recent fatal occurrences, which claimed the lives of innocent children and others in Ibadan, Anambra and Abuja.
The PDP legislator said that as representatives of the people, the Assembly has a duty to put together a regulation meant to prevent such stampedes.
He also called on relevant agencies, including the Ministries of Culture and Tourism, Environment, as well as Local Government Councils, among others, to put measures in place to avert any form of stampede, while urging inter-agency collaboration to set up a task force that would be in charge of any event requiring crowd control and permits for the effective management of crowds in the state.
Reacting to the motion, the Speaker of the Assembly, Oludaisi Elemide, commended the lawmaker for the motion.
He, however, called on relevant agencies and stakeholders in charge of palliative measures and other well-meaning individuals interested in giving back to the people, to always take preventive measures in controlling crowds associated with such gestures to avert the recent stampede incidents that occurred in Oyo, Anambra and Abuja.
