Death toll in Nigeria food queue stampedes rises to 32

Nigerian police on Sunday raised the total death toll from two stampedes at food distribution centres to 32, as the country grappled with a spate of deadly crowd crushes at charity events.

Twenty-two people were killed on Saturday as people queued outside a centre distributing rice in the southern town of Okija, police said, after previously warning "many" were dead as a result of the incident.

And on the same day a separate stampede outside a church giving food to the "vulnerable and elderly" in the capital Abuja killed at least 10 people, prompting Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu to clear his schedule in the wake of the twin tragedies.

The stampedes outside food distribution centers come as Africa's most populous country grapples with its worst economic crisis in a generation, with inflation soaring to 34.6 percent in November.

Confirming the toll of 22 dead in Okija, a spokesman for the Anambra state police expressed condolences to the families and friends of those killed.

"The investigation into the unfortunate incident is still ongoing," Anambra police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said on Sunday in a statement.

Four children were among the 10 killed in the Abuja stampede outside the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Maitama district, police said.

Another eight people were injured in the crush, according to a police spokesperson.