President Buhari campaigns in Taraba, Adamawa; Mourns death of supporters at rally in Jalingo 

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed profound sadness over of loss of lives at the All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential Campaign Rally in Jalingo, Taraba State on Thursday.

A statement by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) said that reacting to reports of the tragic death of some APC supporters due to the overwhelming crowd at the Jolly Nyame Stadium, the President said:“I always feel very sad and distressed when ordinary Nigerians who love me and our party because of what we stand for and have done, make personal sacrifices by taking the pains to show their support, end their lives tragically.”

While appreciating the massive support he is receiving all over the country, President Buhari calls for restraint on the part of his supporters to avoid such tragic incidences, and improved crowd management at rally grounds.

“I want them to stay alive and witness the dividends of purposeful governance that the APC administration will unfold when they renew our mandate,” he said.

Commiserating with the families of the victims and the APC family, the President prays Almighty God to grant peace to the souls of the departed and speedy recovery to the injured.

Reacting to the incident, the APC, on Thursday, said that it was deeply pained by the death of some of its supporters at its Next Level campaign rally.

Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC National Publicity Secretary, made this known in a statement in Abuja.

The incident was caused by a stampede at the party’s rally for President Buhari at the Jolly Nyame Stadium in Jalingo, the Taraba capital.

“Our party is deeply pained by this painful loss. We pray for the dearly departed and express our deep condolences to their family members, loved ones and the good people of Taraba,” he said.

Issa-Onilu also prayed for the speedy and full recovery of the party’s supporters, who sustained injuries during the incident, which he said was caused by overcrowding.

The APC spokesman added that the party would ensure that improved crowd control measures were put in place to as much as possible prevent a re-occurrence of such a sad incident.