ABUJA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 22 people were killed in a stampede during a philanthropic initiative to distribute food items and vegetable oil to locals ahead of Christmas celebrations in Okija, a town in Nigeria's southeastern state of Anambra, Saturday, the police said Sunday.

Tochukwu Ikenga, the spokesperson for the police in Anambra, said in a statement that "there were injured casualties receiving treatment at local hospitals" but did not give an exact figure, following the fatal incident Saturday morning. He said an investigation was underway on the incident.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's national police chief Kayode Egbetokun has issued a stern warning against the unorganized "distribution of palliatives and funfairs," which have recently led to stampedes and fatalities among vulnerable citizens in the country.

Egbetokun said in a statement Saturday that the warning came in response to the increasing number of stampedes resulting in injuries and deaths, particularly during palliative distributions ahead of the Christmas celebration, describing them as "uncoordinated."

On Wednesday, at least 35 people were killed and six critically injured in an earlier stampede during a children's carnival in the southwestern city of Ibadan. At least 10 people, including four children, were killed, while eight others sustained injuries in a separate stampede during a relief item distribution at a local church in the Maitama district of Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Saturday.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Saturday called on state and local authorities to implement strict crowd control measures nationwide, following the fatal incidents.

"Local and state authorities should no longer tolerate operational lapses by organizations and corporate bodies involved in charitable and humanitarian activities," Tinubu said. ■