Pandemonium broke out at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City on Wednesday as several students reportedly sustained injuries after security operatives fired pepper spray and teargas canisters during this year’s Children’s Day celebration.

DAILY POST gathered that the event, organised by the Edo State Ministry of Education, saw several students reportedly collapse following a stampede allegedly caused by the use of pepper spray by operatives of a local security outfit known as bouncers.

It was also gathered that several of the students, particularly female students, reportedly fainted after inhaling the substance, while others sustained injuries after being stepped on during the ensuing melee.

A source who was at the event reported that panic spread across the stadium as students, teachers and parents scampered for safety.

He added that many of the affected students were reportedly rushed to the Edo Specialist Hospital for medical attention.

He explained that trouble started when some male students of Ihogbe College, Benin City, allegedly made inappropriate advances towards female students at the venue.

Meanwhile, a parent who identified himself as Oboh Emmanuel alleged that “the behaviour of some uncultured students attracted the attention of bouncers stationed at the stadium.”

According to him, the affected students later regrouped and attacked the bouncers, leading to a confrontation within the crowded arena.

He, however, alleged that in the confusion that followed, the bouncers deployed pepper spray in an area occupied by a large number of students.

Reacting, the Edo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said reports of mass collapse of children were exaggerated.

Afegbua added that it was a bouncer who used pepper spray and not security agents, as reported by some media outlets.

He said the state Deputy Governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, quickly stepped in to avert any tragedy.

The Abia State Police Command has commenced an investigation into the killing of a youth in Aba, adding that the corpse of the victim has been recovered and deposited in a morgue for autopsy.

The spokesperson of the Abia State Police Command, DSP Maureen Chinaka, who stated this while responding to inquiries about the incident, said it happened on May 24, 2026, at about 12:35 p.m.

She said preliminary investigation showed that unidentified assailants pursued the victim and shot him dead in front of a church at Ehere, near Opobo Junction in Aba.

The DSP noted that officers from the Eastern Ngwa Police Division, who were on patrol at Obikabia Junction, acted on intelligence that an unidentified person had been shot dead by unknown assailants.

She said the officers led a patrol team from Ohuru Division to the scene, where the deceased was found lifeless in a pool of his own blood.

“It was the DPO at Obikabia Junction that received the distress call, and his team went there.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that he was pursued. The assailants who killed him pursued him as he was running towards the church, and they shot him in front of the church,” she said.

Operatives of the Ugbowo Division of the Edo State Police Command have apprehended two suspected cultists allegedly gathering for unlawful activities in the state.

ASP Eno Ikoedem, the Public Relations Officer of the command, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Benin City.

Ikoedem alleged that the suspects, Victor Peter, 21, and Iyemoma Ogbewe, 35, were arrested in Ohonre Community, off Adolor College Road, Benin City, on May 21, 2026, at about 7 p.m.

She said that on the fateful day, operatives attached to the Ugbowo Division, who were on surveillance patrol, responded to a distress report concerning the movement and gathering of some suspected cult members within the community.

She added that, acting promptly on the information, the police team mobilised to the location, and on sighting the operatives, the suspects fled in an attempt to evade arrest.

The command’s spokesperson explained that after a hot chase, the operatives arrested the two suspects, who later confessed to being members of the notorious Maphite cult group.

She also stated that during a search conducted on the suspects, one cut-to-size gun allegedly in their possession for unlawful purposes was recovered.

She added that efforts were ongoing to identify and apprehend other fleeing gang members.