Children’s Day celebration: Several students hospitalised, others injured as security operatives deploy pepper spray in Edo

Chaos erupted at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City on Wednesday when security operatives released pepper spray and teargas canisters during this year’s Children’s Day celebration, according to the Daily Post.

The event, organized by the Edo State Ministry of Education, reportedly saw several students collapse after a stampede that was allegedly triggered by the pepper spray used by a local security group known as “bouncers.”

Many students, especially females, are said to have fainted after inhaling the spray, while others were injured when they were trampled amid the ensuing chaos.

A witness at the event described how panic spread throughout the stadium as students, teachers and parents hurried to safety.

He added that many of the affected students were rushed to Edo Specialist Hospital for medical care.

The trouble began when some male students from Ihogbe College allegedly made inappropriate advances toward female students at the venue.

One parent, identified as Oboh Emmanuel, said that “the behaviour of some uncultured students attracted the attention of bouncers stationed at the stadium.”

According to him, the students later regrouped and attacked the bouncers, sparking a confrontation in the crowded arena.

He claimed that in the confusion, the bouncers deployed pepper spray in an area occupied by a large number of students.

Responding to the incident, Edo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy Prince Kassim Afegbua said that reports of a mass collapse of children were exaggerated.

Afegbua clarified that it was a bouncer, not a security agent, who used the pepper spray, contrary to some media reports.

He added that Deputy Governor Hon. Dennis Idahosa quickly intervened to prevent any further tragedy.