A City Boys Movement empowerment programme held on Saturday in Owerri, Imo State, descended into chaos after a crowd rushed the venue and seized items meant for distribution, prompting a reaction from former senator for Kogi-West, Sen. Dino Melaye.
Videos circulating on social media showed a surge of youths rushing the venue of the empowerment programme, triggering confusion as people scrambled to grab the items prepared for distribution.
Eyewitness accounts indicated that the rush created a chaotic atmosphere, with several attendees attempting to secure the empowerment materials amid the commotion.
Reacting to the development on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Sen. Melaye faulted the incident, claiming that individuals he described as “village boys” took over the event and seized the items meant for distribution.
“The village boys invaded the programme and took what rightfully belonged to them, leaving the City Boys on the run,” Melaye wrote.
The City Boys Movement, widely known as a political support group for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has in recent times organized empowerment programmes across several parts of the country, distributing items such as vehicles, sewing machines, and other tools aimed at supporting youths and small-scale entrepreneurs.
The Owerri event had attracted a large crowd, but the situation reportedly became difficult to control as attendees surged toward the distribution points, leading to the disorder captured in widely shared videos online.
While some observers blamed poor security arrangements for the breakdown of order at the venue, others insisted that security presence was actually heavy but ultimately overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who turned up for the programme.
According to those accounts, the crowd far outnumbered the security personnel on ground, making it difficult to contain the rush for the empowerment materials.
The incident has sparked widespread reactions on social media, with many Nigerians debating issues around crowd control, transparency, and fairness in empowerment programmes.
Observers noted that what happened in Owerri should serve as a lesson for organisers of political and empowerment events nationwide, highlighting the need for better planning, adequate security, and crowd management to prevent similar bedlams in the future.
