Police in Rivers said on Saturday that 31 persons in a stampede during an outreach programme.
The event was organised by a new generation church, Kings Assembly, on Saturday in Port Harcourt.
Rivers police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko told NAN that the church, located in GRA in Rivers capital, had invited members of the public to an an event where it would share some gift items to its members, including food stuffs.
She said that the event was held at the Port Harcourt Polo Club, a bigger facility to accommodate the anticipated crowd, including the underprivileged.
The PPRO stated that though the programme was billed to start by 9a.m., some of the participants arrived there before the time.
The spokesperson said that the church leadership was distributing the items to the participants before the time at the venue which led to the stampede.
She said the stampede must have occurred when the people who had gathered struggled to have have items, resulting in the death of the 31 persons.
