Operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) who came from Abuja have been held responsible for the death of 11 persons during the stampede that marred President Goodluck Jonathan's zonal campaign kick-off at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, last weekend.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, Diseye Desire Nsirim, in her testimony before the presidential panel investigating the tragedy, said lives were lost because officials of the SSS locked the gates at the stadium, which made exit impossible at the time of the stampede.

Nsirim told the panel that the SSS operatives went to the masters of ceremony (MC) to announce asking her to withdraw her armed men from the mainbowl of the stadium and she complied.

Other senior police officers from the command who testified corroborated Nsirim's submission. They, however, added that they were asked to withdraw their men for the Mopol 24 from Abuja to take over.

DCP Habila Joshak in charge of operations said if the gates had been opened, the incident would have been avoided, adding that the command had sufficient manpower to contend with the situation at the venue of the presidential rally.

"Lapses at the gate caused the stampede. There are five exit points and entrances at the stadium. If left open, the ugly incident would have been averted. Security operatives from the Presidential Villa changed the gates' padlocks and keys to offices in the stadium," Joshak said.

He added that "some politicians were also throwing monies at the gates of the stadium, with people struggling to pick, which is wrong. Somebody also shot at the friendly crowd, where the security personnel were insisting that the gate should not be broken. No shot could be justified.

"Emphasis should always be placed on effective crowd control. We have had many events at the stadium and in Rivers State, with larger crowd and they were well managed. There is need for synergy, collaboration and understanding among security agencies," he said.

According to Joshak, the command had about 13,000 policemen and 300 serviceable vehicles to take care of a crowd as big as the last weekend's PDP south-south presidential rally in Port Harcourt.

On his part, the manager of the Liberation Stadium, Mr. Nmehielle James, disclosed that operatives of the SSS from Abuja chased him and other workers out of their offices in the complex, took over the five gates and changed the padlocks.

James, who is an Assistant Director, Rivers State Stadium Authority, said when men of Police Mobile Force (PMF) 24 (Presidential Security) and SSS officials from the Presidential Villa got to the stadium, whatever those on the ground were doing became irrelevant to them.

The stadium manager also revealed that of the stadium's five gates, only three were opened by the Abuja security men.

He said the action induced what he called so much pressure on the main gate, where the stampede led to the death of the 11 persons and injuries to many others.