Crowd crush tragedy at Asake concert

Hello there! I'm in Kechi, Obona, in Nairobi, with focus on Africa. In Kenya, the family of the young woman who died during a crowd crush at a concert headlined by Nigerian Afrobeats artist, Demand Justice, as authorities comments investigations. She was a public child, she loved social media, she was very visible on TikTok and Instagram. And I would say that calligraphy cannot be seen in what state it was, moral, at work. And as thousands pour into the West African cities of Accra and Lagos for the annual Christmas festivities, popularly known as Dezi December, we ask locals if the holiday staple is losing its shine. Now with the nature of how things are expensive, we are seeing ticket prices for concerts, go for as high as 300 US dollars, and for the average Nigerian that is quite pricey. But for the organizers to, they will tell you the price to book these artists have increased also, to rent equipment, to rent venues, I've also increased the price as increased, so that is the issue. Dezi December 24th. A family in Kenya is mourning the loss of their young daughter who died after a crowd crush at last Sunday's concert in Nairobi. 20-year-old Karen Lujori had gone out to enjoy an evening of music but never made it home. She was among fans trying to enter the Nyayos stadium in Nairobi, where Nigerian Afrobeats artist Ashakeh was headlining a concert. Her death has raised questions about safety and crowd management at large events. Kenya Police spokesperson Michael Mushuri confirmed Karen's demise, but he did not disclose how many people were injured. In a statement posted on Instagram, the event organizer said they are working with authorities to find out exactly what happened. Ashakeh has also reacted to the incident expressing grief over Karen's passing while extending his condolences to her family. In 2022, a similar incident happened at London's Brixton Academy, where two women including a security guard died after a crowd crush at Ashakeh's concert. I caught up with Karen's aunt Suzan Aketella in between final arrangements and started by asking her what kind of person Karen was. Karen was a very specific lunch, she was very bright at school and she loved social media. Anything digital, let me say. She just turned 20 of the 31st of August, she was a student at Baystaya University. She joined in 2024, that is last year, and previously she studied in high school Bishogatimo Sinburanga before she proceeded to the university. Did you speak to her before she left home for the concert? No, I didn't speak to her, she had spoken to her mother on that specific day, because she's the one who got her the ticket to the concert. She was with her friends, they were to go for the concert at around nine, she used to stay alone at the moment near school, so she left with her friends for the concert. There were three friends, one guy and two ladies. The first lady successfully entered the concert, but the guy and Karen were left behind, they were still waiting for the tickets to become, so the tickets coming failed, and what told to wait, and it's during this waiting period that one of the musicians, I think Gubs was coming to the stage and it's like many people are anticipating him, so since the crowd was already growing, and they saw their favorite decision going on stage, that's when the stampede happened, who are trying to force themselves to go in, so Karen tripped and fell at that time, and her friend, the guy, tried to help, but in a stampede, it's very hard to drag out somebody, so that is when she was injured, after the crowd reduced, the guy managed to hold her and took her to an ambulance, that was within the concert, so the ambulance drove off and took her to hospital, unfortunately, she was pronounced, they don't arrive all day. The ambulance took the body to the city mochari, that is when we got a call, and when you got the call, what were you told? It's her mother who called me around 2 a.m. to inform me that she got a call, informing her that Karen was at the city mochari, so I took a nobody went to confirm the body and did she was dead, so I called my friends and we went to the police station to give us a statement, after identifying the body. I have the Karen authorities said anything to you, I know the organizers say investigations are ongoing. We need a post-mortem to confirm that she died from the stampede, and we had the CID alongside during the process, so it's still an ongoing case. We have the concert organizers or the headline star musician in the person of Ashakeh, has he or his team reached out to your family? They have not reached out, although we saw he made a post on his Instagram page, but none known management, nobody has contacted us, although I believe if they are to contact the contact Karen's mother. And as the last time you communicated with her, has she received any communication from Ashakeh's management? No, she had not received any communication. What are your thoughts about the statement from the management company and the other statement from Ashakeh, the headline act? Okay, accidents do happen, but we expect some kind of accountability because this kind failed for a long time, it was not for some minutes, people had to wait for long. This is the old thing that caused the stampede, if there was problem management, there was security in place and everything, I don't think this could have happened, but it's sad because Karen was still very young, she was just starting to pursue her career path, so it's very sad for the family, her mother is not even around, she doesn't give me a Kenya, has given you a child day away, it's not something to express about, so it's sad, it's very sad. What would justice look like for you and the family right now? On my end, I can say once, acknowledgements, we cannot survive her, but once somebody takes accountability for what happened because this can happen again and again, if proper measures are not taken. And has your family made any funeral arrangements concerning Karen's passing? The funeral arrangements are ongoing, we have a prayer session by the university and then we plan to transfer the bodies to Mochari near our home, for the burial. And what would you like the organizers and the general public to know about Karen? She was a public child, she loved social media, she was very visible on TikTok and Instagram, I would say that Kalega Singh can only be seen in what she did, which was moral at work. And how would you want the world to remember Karen? Obviously just being 20 years old and passing away, basically just in first year in university, what do you want the world to remember her for? For being an outgoing person and very friendly person. Many thanks to Karen's aunt Suzan Eketela and please accept our heartfelt condolences. Now Kenyan journalist Immanuel Undungu was at the concert himself, I asked him what exactly happened at the venue? When I arrived, there was like a VIP entrance and then there was a standard entrance and I went to the standard entrance specifically, but there there were obviously a lot more people waiting to get lined up. And there were two cues of women and two cues of men all coming into the same section. I arrived at a like 915-ish, so it was obviously dark and was not real lighting in the area either, so we were all just kind of standing there in the dark. And there were two lines of men of about 40 people each, so it wasn't too bad when I got there at around 915, but the women's line was significantly longer, like several times longer. The cue didn't move actually at all. A lot of us were wondering why as well, but we weren't given any communication as to why the cue wasn't moving. Two cues of 40 guys now tend into a few hundreds after like 30 or 45 minutes or so. After those like 30 or 45 minutes where they just didn't let anyone in, it was now basically an cue that just couldn't have been contained and controlled by the few security personnel that were there. I only saw maybe like three or three offices who were there. That was quite an issue where now there are several hundred people trying to get in. And this was the moment where the police now started to act. So there was one policeman who ran along the side of this crowd against the fence on the left hand side and started like batting people, people who was batting trying to run towards the right where now I was in the thick of this big crowd and that's the first time we really felt a push and people started stumbling and but I still wasn't anywhere near the bottle neck of actually going through that single man gate. Right. So first of all, the crowd was getting impatient and these were people who had tickets to attend the concert and then the police officers decided to use slight force according to what you saw and then the crowd became rolled up. Is that correct? Is that the sequence of events? Yes, yes. I think that's accurate. I think most people there was majority of paid for tickets as well. I heard a lot from a lot of people there and we've had some problems in previous events of like some occupied certain events but that wasn't the feeling that I got here. I got here. That people had paid. Tell us an estimated number of the crowd you saw. It was at least a few hundred. I was not able to see the back of the group. It's so it's a bit hard to estimate but it's at least a few hundred. Let's say the gate is at 12 o'clock, the men's queue was coming from eight o'clock, women's queue from four o'clock, all coming towards, all coming towards this central 12 o'clock gate. Ashake and the organisers have both issued separate statements. Could you tell us what they've said? Yeah, like you said they had separate statements but largely pointed to the same thing of like investigations are taking place and they regret any kind of situation like that happening and no one should be at an event like that where people lose their lives. So that was really the main message from it. Their statements actually came almost 48 hours after the events took place. Many thanks to Immanuel Undungu and May Karen Lodzuri rest in peace. This is Focus on Africa from the BBC World Service. Every December you start to notice the shift. Friends in Lagos, Nigeria complain about traffic. Others in Akragana post pictures of concerts and sold out events. Everyone seems busy, tired and excited at the same time. I'm a Nigerian living in Nairobi and even from here, Deity December finds you. In calls, group chats and social media, all saying the same thing. This city is insane right now. It's meant to be fun, a reward for all the hard work throughout the year. But listening to people back home, there's also frustration. Things cost a lot more, getting around is even harder. And some are asking whether the season still feels the same. All today, we're asking is Deity December losing its charm? To understand how Deity December became such a big part of life in Lagos and Akra. And why some people feel differently about it now. Here's my colleague, Chiang Makatiki. Deity December is the informal name for the end of year festive season in cities like Lagos, Nigeria and Akragana. The term was coined in 2016 by Nigerian musician, Mr. Easy, as part of a promotional strategy for his December concert. At the time, it was just about small parties and shoes. But over the years, it's grown into something much bigger, a multi-million dollar cultural industry. In Lagos alone, December 2024 is estimated to have generated about $71 million from Deity December activities, including concerts, nightlife, events and the influx of visitors. In Akra, initiatives like beyond the return, which actively encourage people in the African diaspora to visit Ghana, have helped turn December into a major cultural and tourism season. That push generated more than $4.8 billion for Ghana's tourism sector last year. Supporters say Deity December boosts local economies, creates jobs and places Lagos and Akra firmly on the global cultural map. But with that growth comes a cost. Hotel prices rise sharply, event tickets become more expensive, traffic worsens, and for people who live and work in these cities year round, everyday life in December can feel overwhelming. Ghana teeds in the ticket price, you see it in the booths and services, the purchase of booths and services, you see it in the accommodation, even in our right hailing apps. So the debate now isn't about whether Deity December matters. It's about who it's really for. And whether it's current form is sustainable. To explore what this shift means for culture and identity, I spoke to an Nigerian culture journalist Ayomi De Tail, who's been observing how the season has evolved over the years. Deity December is becoming a more global event, is being the major engine behind that is the rise of Afro-Bits global and therefore a lot of Nigerians who live in a diaspora want to come back and tap into their culture and the best time is December. Also a lot of people who are not Nigerians also want to enjoy the Afro-Bits culture who come to Lagos in December also because of the lineup of events that they are. We've seen a lot of complaints like you mentioned concerning the price of things here in Lagos and traffic and just the structure of things and this is because a lot of things have been left to be organic so to speak and there has been a proper structure foundation for these tourist events so to speak that happens every December in Lagos. In case many people don't know, Lagos is the smallest states in Nigeria. What it holds 10% of the national population, Nigeria being around 300 million and Lagos having 20 million people. So even without December there's a lot of pressure in Lagos with terms of vehicular traffic and those foot traffic. The urban planning there is in top notes so to speak. So what you have is that when you have thousands of people coming they are not spread across the states and then now puts more burden on the road network that we have there. Now with the nature of how things are expensive we are seeing ticket prices for concerts, go for as high as 300 US dollars and for the average Nigerian that is quite pricey. But for the organizers to they will tell you the price to book these artists have increased also to rent equipment to rent venues and also increase the purchase increase. So that is the issue and with these prices people are complaining that they don't get to see the heavy stars although what we are seeing now is that the events for everybody according to your financial capabilities. Another aspect is the short letter apartment A, B and B's. Some people booked their debt in December so people are already booked for their debt in standard trip. Very early in the year probably around July August September and they all got inmuse later in the year that all the owner of the A, B and B is going to refund their money because they want to hike prices times two or times three when you buy in December because they know they are going to make more. So that's the ugly parts, people's Nazi that is December as a gold rush to now hike their prices indiscriminately and just pounds on the festivities I know that people will pay at the end of the day. But right now there's a backlash from even Nigerians at home and Nigerians at work that this is too much that this is not in the spirit of the celebration and it's just you know this vendor strategic advantage of people during this period. Oh people have also said you know generally speaking, debt in December is very chaotic, it's exhausting with the volume of people in the city of Lagos and then the crowds you know and then crowd control sometimes also becomes an issue with traffic and all. What is causing this shift from how the season used to be and what people are experiencing now? I think for every year it gets bigger and bigger and without more people come and it now puts more body on the already far from perfect system that we already have. So that's what we are seeing right now. Lagos is chaotic generally to November even without people coming to come and celebrate. Unfortunately, it just goes down to the way Lagos is structured, Lagos is in a body shape and needs to be structured totally especially for events like this where people from other parts of the world will come to come and celebrate. They are saying that Lagos is not ready for it. Infrastructure wise, goodness wise and you know every other aspect. So it now puts a body more and more you know more people go out for concerts, there's a hold up, there's traffic at the gates for the events that have so many people are there drooping sometimes some organizes are more tickets than what the venue can hold, the venue's capacity. So there are all these lack of regulations that we need, the government needs to sit down and you know, probably structure. If you want to make Lagos a attraction, several things have to work. Many thanks to Ayame Detail and this isn't just a Lagos story. In Ghana, December has also become a huge cultural season but for people living in Akra it comes with real challenges, rising costs, heavy traffic and the pressure of a city stretched to its limits. Olele Salvador, a pop culture journalist in Akra shared his thoughts from Ghana. For Ghana, kids in the ticket price, you see it in the booths and services, a purchase of goods and services, you see it in the accommodation, we see people who are perhaps driven by the demand which is normal but also the nuanced greed of trying to cut out because they know that when get the December passes away, the seldom would make that amount of money or that amount of profit. To think over time, low-cows and the foreigners are catching on to that type of global commercialization of the season and obviously raising serious concerns about how people are taking advantage of that. Slowly and continually creating the narrative that as much as we are seeing to be a hospital country, Ayagana, we are also creating the narrative that is very expensive to be in. If a name is taken by a year or so ago, the CNN did a report and suggested that Akra was arguably one of them as expensive cities to be in. And that's it on focus on Africa today. What did you think of the stories we brought to you? Do you send us your thoughts and suggestions on WhatsApp? The number is plus 44, 78, 42, 61, 77, 66. You can also connect with us on social media at BBC Africa or email us on [email protected]. This episode was produced by Chiamacardique and Blessing Adiraba in Lagos, as well as Bella Sweeney and Cacante Shumbar in Nairobi. Daniel Dazia was the senior journalist in charge, and Mbarak Abdullah is our technical producer. Somal Morunga and Mariam Abdullah R.R. editors, I am Mk. Chi Obonna. Speak again soon.