Lagos Yaba Nigeria Customs Subsidised Rice Sale Stampede — Incident Report
Crowd Incident · Food Distribution

Lagos Yaba CustomsRice-Sale Stampede

A subsidised sale of seized food items at the Nigeria Customs Service old zonal headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, ended in a fatal stampede after stock ran out, continuation was announced, and the crowd breached barricades.

Date23 Feb 2024
LocationYaba, Lagos
Fatalities7 reported / 4 conflict
InjuriesNot verified
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Incident Overview

What happened

Date: 23 February 2024.

Location: Nigeria Customs Service Old Zonal Headquarters / Customs Zonal Office, Harvey Road, Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria.

Event: Subsidised sale/disposal of seized food items, including 25kg bags of rice reportedly sold at N10,000.

Summary: After stock ran out and continuation was announced, the crowd became desperate, breached barricades, and a stampede followed.

Classification

Food distribution crowd risk

Incident name: Lagos/Yaba Nigeria Customs subsidised rice sale stampede.

Reported injuries: Nigeria Customs said fatalities and injuries were recorded, but no verified injury total was found in the supplied source set.

Reported fatalities: Seven deaths are reported by several news reports, while a later Nigeria Customs newsletter refers to four lives lost. That conflict remains unresolved.

View disputed details →

Key Figures

Reported Numbers

0
February 2024
7 / 4
Fatality figures in conflict
25kg
Rice bag size reported
₦0
Reported sale price

Chronology

Reported sequence

Launch of sale
Nigeria Customs launched a subsidised sale/disposal of seized food items in Lagos, linked to food scarcity and economic hardship.
Stock ran out
Reports say the pilot exercise started smoothly before stock ran out and continuation was announced.
Barricade breach
The crowd became desperate and surged through barricades, leading to the fatal stampede.
Programme suspended
Nigeria Customs suspended the food disposal initiative after the incident.

Operational Points

Key details

🍚
Subsidised food sale
The incident was tied to a food disposal initiative involving seized food items, not consistently described by sources as a charity event.
🚧
Barricade breach
Official reporting described the crowd surging through barricades after stock ran out and continuation was announced.
📍
Yaba location
Sources place the event at the NCS Old Zonal Headquarters / Customs Zonal Office on Harvey Road, Yaba, Lagos.
⚠️
Unverified injuries
Fatalities and injuries were acknowledged, but a reliable injury total was not identified in the supplied research.
⚠️ Evidence noteThe fatality figure is not fully settled in the source record. The safer wording is that seven deaths were widely reported, while a later official newsletter wording referred to four lives lost.

Disputed Details

What does not line up

The supplied source set contains one major unresolved conflict and several details that could not be verified.

Disputed Detail
Fatality count

Multiple contemporaneous reports give one figure, while a later official newsletter uses different wording.

Seven deaths

The PUNCH, Daily Trust and The Guardian report seven deaths.

Four lives lost

A later Nigeria Customs newsletter quotes an official condolence message referring to “the loss of four precious lives.”

No source in the supplied set explains whether this was a revision, an error, or a reference to a subset of victims.

Unsettled Detail
Injury total

Nigeria Customs said fatalities and injuries were recorded, but the reviewed sources did not provide a verified injury total.

Official wording

Fatalities and injuries were acknowledged in reporting of the official statement.

Missing number

No confirmed final injury count was identified in the supplied source set.

This should remain “not verified” unless a stronger official incident report is found.

Not Verified

Open points

These details should not be treated as settled.

Injuries
A verified total number of injured persons.
Death toll
Whether the final official death toll was revised from seven to four.
Subset wording
Whether “four precious lives” referred only to a subset of victims.
Venue detail
A more specific venue identifier beyond the NCS Old Zonal Headquarters / Customs Zonal Office on Harvey Road, Yaba.

Source Material

References

References listed in the uploaded incident file, including news reports, the Nigeria Customs newsletter and open-source social posts.

01
Channels Television · Source
Customs Suspend Sale Of Seized Food Items Over Stampede
26 February 2024
Reports Customs suspended the seized-food sale after the Yaba stampede and quotes the official statement that the exercise began smoothly before stock ran out and the crowd surged through barricades.
Visit Source →
02
The PUNCH · Source
Customs suspend rice sale after seven die in stampede
27 February 2024
States that seven people reportedly died at the NCS Old Zonal Headquarters in Yaba during the foodstuff sale.
Visit Source →
03
Daily Trust · Source
7 die in stampede as customs sells seized rice
26 February 2024
Reports seven deaths during open sales at the customs zonal office on Harvey Road, Yaba, Lagos, with 25kg bags sold for N10,000.
Visit Source →
04
The Guardian Nigeria · Source
Customs suspend food distribution initiative after stampede
26 February 2024
Reports the programme was launched to ease hardship and initially served over 5,000 people before becoming chaotic after continuation was announced.
Visit Source →
05
The PUNCH · Source
Customs rice: APC mourns member, others who died in stampede
24 February 2024
Reports the death of APC member Comfort Adebanjo among seven people who died while attempting to buy seized rice.
Visit Source →
06
The PUNCH · Source
Trampled to death: Hunger, desperate search for food drive citizens to early graves
21 April 2024
Retrospective feature placing the incident at the old zonal headquarters on Harvey Road, Yaba, and describing the rice price as N10,000 per 25kg bag.
Visit Source →
07
Ripples Nigeria · Source
Falana demands compensation for victims killed during Customs’ rice distribution stampede
11 March 2024
Reports a call for compensation for families of seven victims and locates the event at the Customs zonal office on Harvey Road, Yaba.
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08
Nigeria Customs Service · Source
Customs Visits Family of Rice Sale Stampede Victims, Rollout Support Strategies
April 2024 newsletter; statement dated 25 April 2024
Official newsletter item referring to the 23 February 2024 Lagos rice-sale stampede, but with a conflicting reference to “the loss of four precious lives.”
Visit Source →
09
Nigeria Customs Service / X · Source
Nigeria Customs Service launches initiative to alleviate food scarcity in Nigeria
23 February 2024
Official post announcing the Lagos launch of the seized-food sale initiative and linking it to food-scarcity relief.
Visit Source →
10
Nigeria Customs Service / X · Source
PRESS STATEMENT – Temporary Suspension of Food Disposal Initiative
26 February 2024
Official post announcing suspension of the initiative after the 23 February 2024 Yaba incident.
Visit Source →

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