WARRI — A member  of the House of Representatives representing the Warri Federal Constituency, Mr Daniel Reyenieju, has given kudos to the Nigeria Police for what he described “as timely intervention of the police officer who fired into the air, an action that drastically reduced the number of casualties at the Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt last Saturday.”

Speaking to Vanguard through a telephone yesterday, the lawmaker said: “I am most disturbed by the incorrect report emanating from an electronic media suggesting that it was the shots fired by a policeman that precipitated the stampede and the consequent lost of lives and injuries, a report which is totally far from what happened given the fact that I was among those dragged out from those injured including the dead.”

According to Reyenieju, “it was only one small gate in the stadium that was opened to serve as exit at that time and thousands of persons were scrambling to pass through the same narrow gate. As the crowd was surging from behind and thus generating force and consequent pressure on those in front, I found myself falling on top of some persons who were already down and being trampled upon; and I was then being climbed on.

“Though there were shouts in front of ‘go back, go back’, the crowd was not prepared to go back with the shouts of why, why!; and at this point I was gradually losing consciousness. It was the first rounds of gunshots which scared those behind us and forced them to rush back thereby reducing the pressure on those of us that were already down.”

“At this juncture, a young man dragged me up as I was still on top of the human layers, and holding me with myself resting on him to walk. When the sound of the first volley of shots died down with all those still lying on the ground yet to be fully evacuated, the surge again came with me still clinging to my God-sent human saviour.

“It was this time the second round of gun shots were fired which was more than the first; which again scared those behind resulting into their retreating, and making it possible for scores of lives to further be saved by the officers and men of the Nigeria Police, including others.”

Reyenieju, who was discharged from a Warri Hospital on Monday morning, before flying to Abuja, warned those who were not at the scene of incident to “stop further irresponsible speculations and dubious journalistic imaginations, particularly that those policemen and women that displayed such unbridled experience and capacity for crowd control at that particular scene and moment are wickedly being demonised such that they could be held accountable for offence they did not commit.”

The lawmaker said “but for the shots fired by that intelligent police officer, (whom I pray to know and thank personally), my seat as honourable member representing the Warri Federal Constituency would by now have been vacant due to death.”

While commiserating with the families of the injured and the dead, Reyenieju called on the police authorities to identify the police officer(s) who fired the first and second shots in particularly; and other officers within the scene of the tragedy for official reward. “They are officers who will remain dear in my heart,” he stated.