Port Harcourt stampede: we didn’t expect the crowd size, says King’s Assembly

In a statement by its Director of Administration, Chimeka Elem, the church said the stampede happened in the early hours before the commencement of its “benevolent and outreach programme called Shop-for-Free”.

Elem described the programme as nondenominational and said its purpose was to share with the less privileged the gifts provided by members of the church, friends and partners.

He said: “Unfortunately, lives were lost and several people sustained varying degrees of injuries”.

Explaining the origin, Elem said: “Our Shop-for-Free programme was started in 2014 as our annual benevolent outreach and our choice of the large venue, Polo Club, was to accommodate the projected attendance.