After the deadly stampede at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, string of meetings, and investigations, Cameroonian authorities have taken stringent security measures, and others to avoid a repeat.
In a report sent to the Confederation of African , CAF, last Friday which L’Action has seen a copy, the government enumerated over 15 measures taken to evade such a fatal situation at the Olembe Stadium.
Government says in the report signed by the Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi that check points to be manned by state security forces will be set up at a “good distance” from the stadium. Here, according to the government only holders of “valid tickets and Covid test” will filter through. More security forces will be sent to the field, accompanied by high profile officers, the report said.
To enable crowd flow, more gates will be opened at the Olembe stadium, and evacuation routes identified and kept open, for the forth and back movement of ambulances in case of a stampede.
From the south side of the stadium, buses will ferry spectators to the North and East zones, as more cameras are added around the facility, the report said.
On match days, the traffic on the Obala- Yaounde road will be cut down. Here government intends to fix the traffic jam witnessed along this stretch – the most-used route to the Olembe Stadium.
An infant of about 8 months was among the victims of the stampede, government has came out clearly to say only children from 11 years old are allowed in the stadium.
Concerning tickets, the sales of tickets on match days has been outlawed and the free distribution of tickets for Cameroon games has been eliminated.
These security measures including others like removing Covid testing sites around stadiums, increasing those within the city and adding a bracelet that confirms negative status – that must be presented at the checkpoints seems to have convinced CAF. Quarter final matches and the final will now be played at the Olembe stadium after CAF suspended the facility from hosting matches, because of the January 22 deadly incident.
Jude VIBAN
