On December 26 2024, @NigeriaStories, made a post on X claiming that bishops and others were arrested following the Abuja stampede that occurred on December 22, 2024. The platform is known for sharing interesting facts and news about Nigeria,
The post had the image of a bishop with the caption, ‘JUST IN: BISHOPS and OTHERS ARRESTED OVER ABUJA STAMPEDE.’
The stampede incident occurred during a charity event organized by the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory leading to the death of at least 10 people including children as reported by Associated Press, France24, DW, CBS News, Al Jazeera, FIJ Nigeria, and Premium Times Nigeria.
VERIFICATION
Keywords search revealed that the news of the arrest was reported by Premium Times Nigeria, Daily Post Nigeria, and The Nation Nigeria, confirming at least 10 individuals including children, died.
The featured image on @NigeriaStories’ X post is Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the Catholic Archbishop of the Abuja Archdiocese. His seat (headquarters) is located at the Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral, Abuja. The Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where the tragic stampede occurred, is one of the parishes under his jurisdiction.
In a Christmas message, Archbishop Kaigama strongly condemned the arrests, describing them as lacking empathy and counterproductive. He called on authorities to provide support to the church and those affected by the tragedy rather than focusing on punitive actions.
Daily Post reported that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command had initiated an investigation and detained the parish priest and several church officials for questioning, citing negligence and inadequate crowd control measures. But, The Nation Nigeria report stated that the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josphine Adeh, said: “they were only invited for questioning.”
“After their initial questioning, they were allowed to return home, as our investigation into the matter is ongoing,” Adeh said.
Archbishop Kaigama was not the parish priest detained for questioning, but the parish priest at Holy Trinity is Rev. Fr. Moses Jimbili. The police clarified that the individuals brought in for questioning were released after their initial statements were taken.
CONCLUSION
The claim that bishops were arrested over the Abuja stampede is MISLEADING. Only the parish priest and some church officials were detained for questioning by the FCT Police Command and have since been released as confirmed by the police spokesperson for the command, Josephine Adeh.
