At least five students of Nasarawa State University in Keffi lost their lives this morning in a stampede at the university’s convocation square, while several others are in a critical state.

A student told FIJ that the victims died struggling to get bags of rice that the state governor sent as palliatives to the school on Thursday.

The student said that the palliatives were arranged in the convocation square but impatient students who knew the palliatives would be distributed assembled at the venue at about 5 am.

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“Many other students got a hold of the information and assembled at the square. The convocation square has two entrances, and they were mounted with the school security guards. But they were no match for the students, as the crowd overwhelmed the security guards and broke through the gate of the convocation square, causing a stampede that resulted in the deaths of some students,” the student told FIJ.

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“As of the time I got to the venue, five students had been confirmed dead, and others suffered various degrees of injuries while others fainted. Some students got a hold of the palliatives, while others didn’t. It was a total mess. The school had to send  an ambulance, but the school clinic is filled with causalities.”

FIJ attempted to contact the college management for comments on the matter, but their lines did not connect, and they had not responded to the text sent to the phone numbers on their website at press time.