Appeal Court Judge killed in Saudi stampede

The presiding justice of the Abuja
division of the Court of Appeal,
Abubakar Abdulkadir Jega, was
among the 717 people who died in
Thursday’s stampede at Jamrat in
Saudi Arabia.
Confirming the death to our
correspondent in Mina, Saudi
Arabia, Kebbi State deputy governor,
Samaila Yombe, said the judge was
caught up in the tragedy while on
his way to perform the ritual of
stoning.
The deputy governor 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.
The deputy governor, however,
insisted that the incident at Jamra
was not a stampede, adding,
“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.
“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 was at this juncture that we started seeing
dead bodies piled up around us,” he said.
Mr. Yombe added that apart from the Justice Jega,
who was confirmed dead from bodies deposited
at the mortuary, the whereabouts of two pilgrims
was still not established.
He said the missing pilgrims were likely among
those who missed their way, and may later be
found.