More than Three Nigerian dailies have reported on the apparent use of helicopters by terrorists operating in the burning north of Nigeria. A March 18th article in Tribune, a March 23rd article in THISDAY, a March 21st DailyTrust report of a Senate hearing in which Senator Abu Ibrahim detailed the use of helicopters to drop supplies and attackers to attack Katsina; and another March 25th investigative report in DailyTrust all presented shocking details of how helicopters have allegedly been used to ferry terrorists and ammunitions in the recent terror incidents in the north, the attack on 21 Armoured Brigade, Giwa barracks precisely and the massacres in Katsina.
In these cases, helicopters are described to have been seen by locals hovering above prior to the attacks and dropping materials and reinforcements in thick forests. DailyTrust queried Nigeria’s Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, about the possibility of such unnoticed air flight, despite the acquirement of 60 million Euros worth of modern equipment by the agency, its Terminal radar Approach Control of Nigeria (TRACON) which has enabled it completely cover the Nigerian air space.
According to aviation experts, it is basically impossible for unknown choppers to fly in Nigerian air spaces without being detected by government radars; this raises serious questions.
Is NAMA inefficient or are the terrorists flying below the radar?
Is the use of helicopters by Boko Haram and the gunmen who raised Kaduna and Katsina villages, killing over 100 civilians in both cases related and operated under the same command?
Is there top level government involvement in the terror operations decimating the north which is permitting such utility of choppers in Nigerian airspaces to ferry terrorist and terror ammunition?
Are the choppers able to fly ‘undetected’ because they are craft of the Nigerian military which has been possibly sabotaged and has elements participating in grand terror against the nation?
Nigeria’s north from Benue to Borno, which spans approximately 80% of Nigeria’s land mass has been wrought by unabating terror for the better part of the last five years since the beginning of the Jonathan administration. The terrorists appear to be gaining in sophistication and becoming more deadly as time progresses.
The unhindered attacks in the northeast are beginning to be reproduced in ferocity and style in the middle belt and other parts of the north as gunmen drive or ride in, fire all in sight and burn down the entire village or town in a seeming deliberate attempt to depopulate and exterminate these regions. There are many questions to be asked as pertains to the ease of operations, the seeming inability of Nigeria’s security to prevent and disrupt attacks, the enforcement not even being able to apprehend attackers after operations that last hours.
Is it paranoid to ask if there is a ploy to depopulate and destroy the north? If so, by whom and hat level of Nigeria’s security department is involved? A past Nigerian head of security, NSA, General Owoye Azazi had alerted in 2012 before he was killed in a copter crash that the sudden sophistication of Boko Haram was not ordinary but was sponsored by elements in the nation’s ruling party.
The Governor of Adamawa state, a seasoned army veteran, Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako, who understands the dynamics of war, has repeatedly perplexedly insisted that there are agents behind the terror in the north within the Office of National Security, ONSA. Most recently in a speech he gave in the United States [See SaharaReporters of March 24th, 2014] he asked, “…is the massive killing of people and destruction of property and the environment state-sponsored?"
The Governor further said, "The security situation we are … facing in Northern Nigeria today could be sponsored, financed and supported by evil minded and over-ambitious leaders of Government and the society for political gains. There is simply no person(s) in the North-Eastern zone rich enough to foot the financial and logistic bills on Boko Haram activities. Somebody outside the zone must have bought these arms, ammunitions and explosives somewhere which is easily traceable, paid the freight charges to Nigeria, cleared them at the Ports, conveyed them up-country through numerous check-points and put them in safe-houses in the States ready to be used by the appointed killers."
Recently, a Turkish Airline senior executive confessed to being involved in dropping ammunitions for terror groups in Nigeria through the Kano airport. Does this report gain credibility based on the stupefying ability of ‘Boko Haram’ and affiliated terror operatives to gain sophistication and operate with impunity under this administration? Top level government collaboration with the terrorists will support the ‘confessions’ of the Turkish executive and will also explain the ability of choppers to fly undetected in the northern skies among other patterns of unprecedented and unexplainable successes of those terrorizing the north.
One has to question the position of Nigeria’s ONSA and Presidency in all these matters. Does President Jonathan who hails from Nigeria’s South and whose statements and body-language have demonstrated a disconnect from the north and the travails of that region, have the commitment and capacity to rescue this troubled region from the grips of marauders and ‘Boko Haram’ terrorists? Does his NSA, a dictator Babangida boy, Sambo Dasuki have the dedication, the mettle and most importantly, the desire to restore peace to this troubled region of the nation? Who is interested in decimating northern Nigeria?
There is an emergency situation in north Nigeria. This part of the country urgently needs committed and strong leadership. A dedicated and patriotic army man like ex-NSA Sarki Mukhtar from late Yar’Adua’s regime needs to be employed as a parallel Minister-of defense/NSA to oversee the engagements of the army in the north of Nigeria. Those in Abuja have failed for five years to check the situation which is now getting dangerously worse. The NATO upset of Libya has released arms, military craft and even mercenaries which terrorists and devilish politicians easily acquire with Nigeria's 'missing' billions.
This administration is not tackling the issues of the north. A change in central government for one that can and will restore hope to that region as well as troubled regions across the entire nation, north to south does not seem to be happening any time soon. Pointing fingers to who is to blame for the administration's failure will not protect life. The National conference in Abuja, apart from not being reassuring as presently constituted and under its present management, is too slow a process. A full war has been waged against the north and the north needs its regional determination and posturing to battle this war. Whatever region wishes to keep this President can do so. The people in the north are under attack from land and the air and need something to happen and to happen fast.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Update: Madam Allison-Madueke In Another Privae Jet Scandal
Fresh revelations indicated on Tuesday that Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, maintained a second private jet with Nigeria's money while the government says no money to create jobs for graduates.
The jet, a Global Express XRS plane, is chartered specifically for her private and official trips overseas. And it has been revealed that: a return trip on the XRS plane is said to cost Nigeria €600,000.
Please Note that this jet is different from the first one, a Challenger 850, which the House of Reps said has so far gulped N10bn in the last two years to fly the "super" minister.
“We have heard that the owners of the Jet have hurriedly left the country. The information is just reaching the Reps committee; but, we are still holding our preliminary meetings.”
Investigation by Punch showed that the House Committee on Public Accounts stumbled on the second jet in the course of the ongoing probe into the N10bn expenditure on Challenger 850.
Findings also showed that the owners of Challenger 850 have escaped from Nigeria shortly after the House of Reps ordered an investigation into the transaction between them and Alison-Madueke.
The aircraft owners reportedly became jittery after the committee declared its plan to summon them to assist in the investigation. Asked to comment on the issue, the Chairman of the committee, Mr Solomon Olamilekan, told Punch that he is “shocked by the latest information.”
Olamilekan, who indeed confirmed that the committee had uncovered a second jet, added that they are trying to establish how many trips it made outside the country.
“We are still holding our preliminary meetings. We have to put all the facts together and agree on the mode of the hearing first. The question on when to invite the minister will come after the meetings.”
However, a document obtained by Punch in Abuja on Tuesday, indicated that Alison-Madueke flew in Global Express XRS on two occasions in 2011. She chartered the same jet twice in 2013 on a return trip bill of €600,000 per trip with Nigeria's money.
Shocked by the latest discoveries, lawmakers are asking how a serving minister raised the money to charter jets for overseas trips at the expense of the Nigerian taxpayers.
Anyway,news gathered that campaigns have been launched by Allison-Madueke's agents online to attack and destroy the investigation and, if possible, confuse President Goodluck Jonathan who is loyal to the minister's family because he is married to their sister who has his only two children. We are watching!
The jet, a Global Express XRS plane, is chartered specifically for her private and official trips overseas. And it has been revealed that: a return trip on the XRS plane is said to cost Nigeria €600,000.
Please Note that this jet is different from the first one, a Challenger 850, which the House of Reps said has so far gulped N10bn in the last two years to fly the "super" minister.
“We have heard that the owners of the Jet have hurriedly left the country. The information is just reaching the Reps committee; but, we are still holding our preliminary meetings.”
Investigation by Punch showed that the House Committee on Public Accounts stumbled on the second jet in the course of the ongoing probe into the N10bn expenditure on Challenger 850.
Findings also showed that the owners of Challenger 850 have escaped from Nigeria shortly after the House of Reps ordered an investigation into the transaction between them and Alison-Madueke.
The aircraft owners reportedly became jittery after the committee declared its plan to summon them to assist in the investigation. Asked to comment on the issue, the Chairman of the committee, Mr Solomon Olamilekan, told Punch that he is “shocked by the latest information.”
Olamilekan, who indeed confirmed that the committee had uncovered a second jet, added that they are trying to establish how many trips it made outside the country.
“We are still holding our preliminary meetings. We have to put all the facts together and agree on the mode of the hearing first. The question on when to invite the minister will come after the meetings.”
However, a document obtained by Punch in Abuja on Tuesday, indicated that Alison-Madueke flew in Global Express XRS on two occasions in 2011. She chartered the same jet twice in 2013 on a return trip bill of €600,000 per trip with Nigeria's money.
Shocked by the latest discoveries, lawmakers are asking how a serving minister raised the money to charter jets for overseas trips at the expense of the Nigerian taxpayers.
Anyway,news gathered that campaigns have been launched by Allison-Madueke's agents online to attack and destroy the investigation and, if possible, confuse President Goodluck Jonathan who is loyal to the minister's family because he is married to their sister who has his only two children. We are watching!
Saturday, 22 March 2014
NIS recruitment: National Hospital releases 5 more bodies
Abuja – The Management of National Hospital, Abuja, has released five more bodies of those who died during Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment to their family members.
Only one out of the seven bodies deposited at the National Hospital mortuary on March 14 was earlier claimed after proper identification.
The hospital’s spokesman, Dr Tayo Haastrup, said on Saturday that: “we had earlier released only one body but in the last two days, we have released five more bodies to family members of the deceased.
“We are left with one body and it will be released to the family members after proper identification,’’ Haastrup said.
He said two women were still on admission in the hospital and hoped that they would be discharged soon.
An eyewitness in the hospital told NAN that shortly after a directive of President Goodluck Jonathan to compensate the families of the deceased and the injured, more people had visited the hospital claiming to be injured.
Haastrup, however, said the hospital management had directed such people to the Nigerian Immigration Service office to state their claims.
“The management has a list of people who were treated and admitted at the hospital as a result of the stampede.
“We cannot be fraudulent and begin to include names of people we did not treat; so we have asked them to go to the appropriate office.
He said that the management would release the list of the victims to the appropriate authorities when it was needed. (NAN)
Only one out of the seven bodies deposited at the National Hospital mortuary on March 14 was earlier claimed after proper identification.
The hospital’s spokesman, Dr Tayo Haastrup, said on Saturday that: “we had earlier released only one body but in the last two days, we have released five more bodies to family members of the deceased.
“We are left with one body and it will be released to the family members after proper identification,’’ Haastrup said.
He said two women were still on admission in the hospital and hoped that they would be discharged soon.
An eyewitness in the hospital told NAN that shortly after a directive of President Goodluck Jonathan to compensate the families of the deceased and the injured, more people had visited the hospital claiming to be injured.
Haastrup, however, said the hospital management had directed such people to the Nigerian Immigration Service office to state their claims.
“The management has a list of people who were treated and admitted at the hospital as a result of the stampede.
“We cannot be fraudulent and begin to include names of people we did not treat; so we have asked them to go to the appropriate office.
He said that the management would release the list of the victims to the appropriate authorities when it was needed. (NAN)
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Unemployed Graduates In Nigeria Writes Letter To President Goodluck Jonathan
Our dear president, we write this letter to you with great passion, and in a state of curiosity and concern.
We understand your zeal as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to invest in the next generation of the country’s youths by presenting a budget that contains reasonable projects that are aimed at tackling the far-reaching malady of UNEMPLOYMENT in our beloved country, Nigeria.
But, it is so unfortunate that the unemployed graduates of Nigerian institutions of higher learning have no representatives at the ongoing National Conference. Having read the modalities of the National Conference and the components involved, we are convinced without prejudice or doubt, that our children would blame us if we fail to inform you, Mr. President, of the mockery of the committee as a result of misplaced priorities.
Mr. President Sir, the only common element which costs less, and can solve the myriad of problems faced by most Nigerians is EMPLOYMENT.
Unemployment is a big challenge in Nigeria, which over the years has represented a lost opportunity for national economic development. With the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) putting the current rate of unemployed Nigerians at 23.9 per cent, up from 21.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.7 per cent in 2009, the rising unemployment rate in Nigeria has in no small measure contributed to the continuous rise in social vices like terrorism, political thuggery, violence and even teenage pregnancies among youths in many parts of the country.
In view of these, the Association of Nigerian Graduates against Unemployment, an association of well cultured youths and intellectuals, was formed. We represent the frustrated and angry youths in the society, forced to act after going through the 492 political selections for the National Conference and noticing the deafening silence concerning unemployment and the unemployed.
We are happy you know, according to statements credited to you, that Nigerians are already talking about their national challenges through the print, electronic and social media and this is how we intend to make our voices heard.
The political selections will only give the same answers and report only what they feel you would be comfortable hearing. The truth, Mr. President, is far from comfortable. What affects us is UNEMPLOYMENT, and we want you to take a critical look at the following issues:
1. Contract Staffing – This is in fact one of the biggest problems hindering graduates from getting jobs. Most of those assumed to be workers in most industries, firms and companies are in fact, not permanent staff. They are all under-employed and are also competing with fresh graduates for any available vacancy.
2. Age limit as a prerequisite for employment opportunities.
3. The issue of years of experience by several government ministries and parastatals.
4. Employment not being on merit.
5. Provision of social welfare for all unemployed graduates and more for the physically challenged graduates. (Return to the quota for each firm to employ, as a percentage of their total workforce, a specific percentage of physically challenged graduates)
Mr. President, from the various statistics we have from the National Bureau of Statistics, and other sources, the number of unemployed citizens ranges from 30 to 45 million, and that is about the population of five major cities in Nigeria. An average of 4.5 million graduates enter into the job market annually with no access to soft loans or any type of enabling environment coupled with epileptic power supply, even after the privatization of PHCN.
The “YouWin” programme is more like and very similar to the visa lottery game, where only lucky winners are empowered and only the families of public office holders and those in government get the little available jobs. We are citizens and should also be given access to enjoy social facilities like those in government e.g. NHIS scheme. We are products of our society and we want to be treated equally like those in government.
We passed through various challenges and delays in school such as ASUU strikes, late school enrolment due to poverty and/or ignorance, bureaucratic arrangement in government, unfortunate policies and administrative problems.
Mr. President, we live in a country where people now sell jobs. Everyone had hitherto been quiet about this completely unacceptable and despicable act and it must be looked into. We are human capital, and this is by far, the greatest asset any country can have. We are worth more than the oil in the South-South or the pepper from the North. We cannot afford to sit down and watch ourselves waste away anymore.
Our dear president, we commend you for what has been done so far in addressing the issue of unemployment such as NDE, YouWin and others, but we are asking that you help us to help this nation and youth restiveness caused by unemployment by empowering us.
We are tired of running out of our fatherland to foreign countries and yet treated and addressed as third class citizens through Visa bonding and the rest, when our country is blessed.
The stakes are high now and we are using this opportunity to address the polity that this association is not a political movement or a violent sect. We are a pressure group crying out in splinters but with one voice for our needs in our country ,Nigeria. We denounce and disassociate ourselves from the methodologies of some home based terror groups/sects in the Northern part of Nigeria that have adopted violence and are unleashing carnage on the society in fighting their cause. However, it should not be forgotten that the problems of these Home Terror groups in the North started when their needs were not met, and with lots of anomalies in their society. Now it’s spiraling and all nations are called to join in securing the region. All we are saying is listen to our cries now and not when things go bad. We are accessible and open for discussions on how to forge ahead in addressing the problems of unemployment with your support.
Mr. President Sir, ignoring the points raised here can have unpleasant consequences. We implore you to urgently address these points to halt the steadily growing number of angry and frustrated unemployed graduates who may be tempted to channel their knowledge and energy into negativities. God bless you, sir, as we await your speedy response and God bless Nigeria
We understand your zeal as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to invest in the next generation of the country’s youths by presenting a budget that contains reasonable projects that are aimed at tackling the far-reaching malady of UNEMPLOYMENT in our beloved country, Nigeria.
But, it is so unfortunate that the unemployed graduates of Nigerian institutions of higher learning have no representatives at the ongoing National Conference. Having read the modalities of the National Conference and the components involved, we are convinced without prejudice or doubt, that our children would blame us if we fail to inform you, Mr. President, of the mockery of the committee as a result of misplaced priorities.
Mr. President Sir, the only common element which costs less, and can solve the myriad of problems faced by most Nigerians is EMPLOYMENT.
Unemployment is a big challenge in Nigeria, which over the years has represented a lost opportunity for national economic development. With the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) putting the current rate of unemployed Nigerians at 23.9 per cent, up from 21.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.7 per cent in 2009, the rising unemployment rate in Nigeria has in no small measure contributed to the continuous rise in social vices like terrorism, political thuggery, violence and even teenage pregnancies among youths in many parts of the country.
In view of these, the Association of Nigerian Graduates against Unemployment, an association of well cultured youths and intellectuals, was formed. We represent the frustrated and angry youths in the society, forced to act after going through the 492 political selections for the National Conference and noticing the deafening silence concerning unemployment and the unemployed.
We are happy you know, according to statements credited to you, that Nigerians are already talking about their national challenges through the print, electronic and social media and this is how we intend to make our voices heard.
The political selections will only give the same answers and report only what they feel you would be comfortable hearing. The truth, Mr. President, is far from comfortable. What affects us is UNEMPLOYMENT, and we want you to take a critical look at the following issues:
1. Contract Staffing – This is in fact one of the biggest problems hindering graduates from getting jobs. Most of those assumed to be workers in most industries, firms and companies are in fact, not permanent staff. They are all under-employed and are also competing with fresh graduates for any available vacancy.
2. Age limit as a prerequisite for employment opportunities.
3. The issue of years of experience by several government ministries and parastatals.
4. Employment not being on merit.
5. Provision of social welfare for all unemployed graduates and more for the physically challenged graduates. (Return to the quota for each firm to employ, as a percentage of their total workforce, a specific percentage of physically challenged graduates)
Mr. President, from the various statistics we have from the National Bureau of Statistics, and other sources, the number of unemployed citizens ranges from 30 to 45 million, and that is about the population of five major cities in Nigeria. An average of 4.5 million graduates enter into the job market annually with no access to soft loans or any type of enabling environment coupled with epileptic power supply, even after the privatization of PHCN.
The “YouWin” programme is more like and very similar to the visa lottery game, where only lucky winners are empowered and only the families of public office holders and those in government get the little available jobs. We are citizens and should also be given access to enjoy social facilities like those in government e.g. NHIS scheme. We are products of our society and we want to be treated equally like those in government.
We passed through various challenges and delays in school such as ASUU strikes, late school enrolment due to poverty and/or ignorance, bureaucratic arrangement in government, unfortunate policies and administrative problems.
Mr. President, we live in a country where people now sell jobs. Everyone had hitherto been quiet about this completely unacceptable and despicable act and it must be looked into. We are human capital, and this is by far, the greatest asset any country can have. We are worth more than the oil in the South-South or the pepper from the North. We cannot afford to sit down and watch ourselves waste away anymore.
Our dear president, we commend you for what has been done so far in addressing the issue of unemployment such as NDE, YouWin and others, but we are asking that you help us to help this nation and youth restiveness caused by unemployment by empowering us.
We are tired of running out of our fatherland to foreign countries and yet treated and addressed as third class citizens through Visa bonding and the rest, when our country is blessed.
The stakes are high now and we are using this opportunity to address the polity that this association is not a political movement or a violent sect. We are a pressure group crying out in splinters but with one voice for our needs in our country ,Nigeria. We denounce and disassociate ourselves from the methodologies of some home based terror groups/sects in the Northern part of Nigeria that have adopted violence and are unleashing carnage on the society in fighting their cause. However, it should not be forgotten that the problems of these Home Terror groups in the North started when their needs were not met, and with lots of anomalies in their society. Now it’s spiraling and all nations are called to join in securing the region. All we are saying is listen to our cries now and not when things go bad. We are accessible and open for discussions on how to forge ahead in addressing the problems of unemployment with your support.
Mr. President Sir, ignoring the points raised here can have unpleasant consequences. We implore you to urgently address these points to halt the steadily growing number of angry and frustrated unemployed graduates who may be tempted to channel their knowledge and energy into negativities. God bless you, sir, as we await your speedy response and God bless Nigeria
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Nigerians Are Deceived With Fake Job Offers In Qatar
As a Nigerian Professional resident in Doha, State of Qatar, I would like to draw the attention of the Federal Government of Nigeria, The Federal Ministry of External Affairs, and the National Assembly to the activities of some unscrupulous agents in Nigeria, with collaboration of some Nigerian elements in Doha offering Work Visa to unsuspecting Nigerians to work and live in Qatar. This practice has been on for some time but has recently reached a frightening dimension in the last few months.
There are now many Nigerians living roughly, some in detention, many living in uncompleted buildings earmarked for demolition, as a result of a scam going on in Nigeria about Qatar Work visas.
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Qatar is a tiny emirate in the Middle East. It is a country rich in oil and gas resources which have fueled the infrastructural and economic development of this Arabian Peninsula nation over the past decades. This economic boom has seen the migration of people from South East Asia, Europe, America and Africa to this small Gulf State. The local Qatari people are also friendly and receptive to foreigners of diverse languages, cultural and religious background. In anticipation of the influx of economic migrant to support the Nations growth, the government of the State of Qatar has an effective immigration system that has been designed to ensure that only legal immigrants are allowed to live and work in Qatar.
While Work Visa as it’s currently being secured for Nigerians by Local Nigerian agents in Qatar and their collaborators in Nigeria grants you the right to live in Qatar, there is no job attached to this Visa. The impression given is that once you arrive in Qatar, Jobs are waiting for you as there are opportunities everywhere. This is not the truth as there are many Nigerians on the streets of Doha today seeking employment without headway for months and in some cases over a year.
Some have returned home disappointed after borrowing money and selling properties to secure Qatar Work visa with high expectations of better life. They lived in harrowing conditions in slums and labour quarters before finding their way back to their motherland. The Agents, who procured the Visa disappeared and live these individuals to the mercy of friends and fellow Nigerians to assist to the best of their abilities. The saddening thing is that most of these unfortunate migrants left paid employment behind in Nigeria, to seek “greener pastures” as painted by this Work Visa Agents.
I must state clearly that, there are indeed job opportunities for qualified professionals in Qatar, and many Nigerians are gainfully employed and practicing their professions in Qatar, it is important to highlight the danger posed by the activities of these nefarious individuals not only to law abiding Nigerians in Qatar, but also the image of the Nigeria Nation. In addition, because of the bad publicity this has generated in government circle, stricter restriction on the issuance of Visa for Nigerians is in place. All hotels in Qatar no longer process Nigeria tourist Visa as applicable to Nationals of other countries willing to come to Qatar on holiday. Despite all these, there has been no official response to this malaise by the relevant Nigerian Embassies in the Gulf.
The implication of this is that, Nigerians with genuine business/holiday interest are refused entry visa. This was not the case five years ago, as you could apply for Visa for anyone by approaching any of the hotels in Doha.
There are now many Nigerians living roughly, some in detention, many living in uncompleted buildings earmarked for demolition, as a result of a scam going on in Nigeria about Qatar Work visas.
advertisement
Qatar is a tiny emirate in the Middle East. It is a country rich in oil and gas resources which have fueled the infrastructural and economic development of this Arabian Peninsula nation over the past decades. This economic boom has seen the migration of people from South East Asia, Europe, America and Africa to this small Gulf State. The local Qatari people are also friendly and receptive to foreigners of diverse languages, cultural and religious background. In anticipation of the influx of economic migrant to support the Nations growth, the government of the State of Qatar has an effective immigration system that has been designed to ensure that only legal immigrants are allowed to live and work in Qatar.
While Work Visa as it’s currently being secured for Nigerians by Local Nigerian agents in Qatar and their collaborators in Nigeria grants you the right to live in Qatar, there is no job attached to this Visa. The impression given is that once you arrive in Qatar, Jobs are waiting for you as there are opportunities everywhere. This is not the truth as there are many Nigerians on the streets of Doha today seeking employment without headway for months and in some cases over a year.
Some have returned home disappointed after borrowing money and selling properties to secure Qatar Work visa with high expectations of better life. They lived in harrowing conditions in slums and labour quarters before finding their way back to their motherland. The Agents, who procured the Visa disappeared and live these individuals to the mercy of friends and fellow Nigerians to assist to the best of their abilities. The saddening thing is that most of these unfortunate migrants left paid employment behind in Nigeria, to seek “greener pastures” as painted by this Work Visa Agents.
I must state clearly that, there are indeed job opportunities for qualified professionals in Qatar, and many Nigerians are gainfully employed and practicing their professions in Qatar, it is important to highlight the danger posed by the activities of these nefarious individuals not only to law abiding Nigerians in Qatar, but also the image of the Nigeria Nation. In addition, because of the bad publicity this has generated in government circle, stricter restriction on the issuance of Visa for Nigerians is in place. All hotels in Qatar no longer process Nigeria tourist Visa as applicable to Nationals of other countries willing to come to Qatar on holiday. Despite all these, there has been no official response to this malaise by the relevant Nigerian Embassies in the Gulf.
The implication of this is that, Nigerians with genuine business/holiday interest are refused entry visa. This was not the case five years ago, as you could apply for Visa for anyone by approaching any of the hotels in Doha.
Monday, 17 March 2014
Immigration Jobs Shared To Governors, Others
Most of the Immigration jobs that hundreds of thousands turned up trying to get on Saturday have already been allocated to well-connected politicians, including state governors and federal lawmakers, sources told Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday.
Only 240 of the 4,556 slots at the Nigerian Immigration Service remained for the 522,6752 "ordinary" applicants who trooped to the test centres and caused a stampede in which at least 16 of them died.
The Immigration Service had said a total of 522,652 applicants turned up at the venues spread around the country, battling for 4,556 jobs.
A source briefed about the recruitment process, which is being handled by the Board of Immigration, Customs and Prisons, told Daily Trust that among those who were already allocated job slots are governors, senators, House of Representatives members and ministers.
"They shared all the positions among governors, senators and others. What remains for those ordinary job seekers was 240," the source said.
Another source from one of the top anti-corruption agencies said the money collected from all the applicants amounted to about N7 billion.
"Look, each applicant paid N1,000. From the record 7 million applied, so they generated about N7 billion," he said. When contacted, spokesman for the Immigration Service Mr. Chukwuemeka Obuah said he was not aware of sharing of the job slots, as the recruitment process was not even handled by the service itself.
"I don't know about that, I don't know about the issue of slots. The issue of this recruitment exercise was undertaken by the board, the Nigerian Immigration Service did not operate the board," Obuah said.
"What I know is that Nigerians lost their lives and it is tragic and unfortunate." Efforts to get Senate's position were not successful as chairman of the Senate Interior Committee Atiku Bagudu did not answer telephone calls. But the House of Representatives Interior Committee said if National Assembly members were given any allocation of job slots, they were entitled to them. Committee chairman Rep Umar Bature (PDP, Sokoto) told Daily Trust by telephone yesterday: "People can say whatever they want to say. The National Assembly members are members of the public. So if they are given slots, I think they are entitled to it. But that is the issue that we would look at when we meet with the Senate committee. But I think we should not be looking at the scapegoat," he said.
He said the committee would investigate to find out causes of the incident. On the criticism over monies collected from applicants, Bature defended the Immigration Service, saying all agencies routinely collect application form fees from job seekers.
"Moro, Parradang must go" Meanwhile, criticism has trailed the deaths of jobseekers on Saturday, with individuals and groups calling for the sack and prosecution of the Interior Minister Abba Moro as well as the Controller General of Immigration David Parradang.
In a statement in Abuja last night, a group of 55 senior activists and politicians said the minister and the controller must be held to account for the deaths. “If the lives of Nigerians mean anything, the leadership and management teams in the Ministry of the Interior and the NIS must be held to account for these deaths,” the statement said.
"This tragedy was needless, foreseeable, and avoidable. The failures of the Ministry of the Interior and NIS to adequately manage the process and safeguard the safety and security of the jobseekers is inexcusable."
They demanded the sacking of Moro and Parradang, and urged the Attorney General of the Federation, Inspector General of Police and Director-General of State Security Service to open a joint criminal investigation into the deaths. The statement was signed by Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa, Dr. Ayesha Imam, Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, Dr. Ishiyaku Mohammed, Dr. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Dr. Hussaini Abdu, Mr. Femi Edun, Dr. Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, Mal. Abba Kyari, Dr. Kole Shettima, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, Prof. Ebere Onwudiwe, Mal. Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, Alhaji Yusuf Tuggar, Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson, Alhaji Tajudeen Fola Adeola, Waziri Adio, Alhaji Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, Iniruo Wills, Mrs. Ayo Obe, Yunusa Yau, Nasir Ladan, Dr. Jeremy Weate, Prof. Nsongurua Udombana, Dr. Charmaine Perreira, Saka Azimazi, Dr. Bibi BakareYusuf, Mrs. Funke Adekoya, Jibrin Okutepa, Chief Ziggy Azike, Roland Ewubare, Mrs. Stella Ugboma, Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, Chukwuma Odelugo, Dr. Solomon Ebobrah, Afolabi Kuti, Mrs. Victoria Ibezim-Ohiaeri, Ms. Seember Nyagher, Dr. Joan Oviawe, Ikeazor Akaraiwe, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Doueyi Fiderekumo, Dakorim Boma Odunuga, Alaezi Nmezi, Dele Aloko, Mrs. Ozioma Izuora, Ms. Lola Shoneyin, Mal. Bilya Bala, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, Uba Saidu Malami, Obinna Anaba, Ms. Wumi Asubiaro, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu and Mr. Obi Akaraiwe.
Also yesterday, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) said the jobseekers’ deaths were a direct consequence of "15 years of misrule by the PDP-led Federal Government."
In a statement in Lagos, APC spokesman Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the Interior Minister must bear direct responsibility for the incident and must step down from his position or be sacked. "Despite huge yearly budgets rolled out since 1999, the PDP-led Federal Government has failed to create jobs for our teeming youth, and the number of those who are jobless has now reached such an alarming rate that a job emergency may have to be declared to avert an impending cataclysm," the statement said. In his reaction, speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said in a statement there was need for the authorities concerned "to investigate the remote and immediate cause of the tragedy, and to map out strategies to prevent future occurrence."
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) described the deaths of applicants as a national disaster. TUC president Bobboi Kaigama, who said the congress is "extremely grieved" by the deaths, called for immediate investigation into the matter as well as a probe of allegations of money collected from applicants.
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) also said the tragedy at the recruitment faulted government's claim of having created 1.6 million jobs in 2013. CNPP spokesman Osita Okechukwu said in a statement that the tragedy "is the outcome of Federal Government of Nigeria's nebulous and inchoate economic policy." ";Otherwise, if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led Federal Government had in the past 15 years invested our unprecedented oil and gas revenue to critical infrastructures like refineries, modern railways, power supply, there is no way over 4,000,000 youths will pay N1,000 to chase less than 3,000 jobs in a single department of the state across the country." In its reaction, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) urged President Goodluck Jonathan to order the arrest and prosecution Interior Minister Moro and the Controller General of Immigration.
HURIWA coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko and the media director Zainab Yusuf also demanded the immediate dismissal of the top officials of the Nigerian Immigration Services and the Federal Ministry of Interior for "negligence which led to the high fatality rate at the ill-fated recruitment exercise by the NIS."
"The Federal Government must also pay heavy compensation of not less than N10 million to the families of each of the dead because their deaths were occasioned by the total official dereliction of function committed by officials," they said in a statement.
Moro: Probe panel coming Moro yesterday visited the National Stadium in Abuja, where some of the deaths occurred on Saturday, saying the stampede was unfortunate and a national tragedy." "The situation we have found here is very unfortunate, because if you look at the gate of the stadium and the surroundings, it is a clear indication that some people had the intention to break into the stadium forcefully," he said. "In the process people were trampled upon and unfortunately some persons" lost their lives. This is an exercise that was organised primarily to forestall this kind of incidence that we have seen today."
Moro said adequate security was provided to maintain orderliness in all the test centres, but that "people who did not apply for the exercise tried to cash in on the openness of the exercise. Several unauthorised persons came in here, especially pregnant women; and in a paramilitary examination that involves physical exercise, I am surprised that a pregnant woman will come to partake." He said a committee would be set up today to look critically at the situation.
How Interior Minister, Moro, Bungled NIS Recruitment
There are indications that Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, hurriedly organised the ill-fated recruitment tests for the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to cover up the suspected fraud in the process that resulted in the deaths of many applicants on Saturday.
Investigations by Daily Independent revealed that there was a subsisting order by the National Assembly for the minister to put the recruitment on hold and refund the N1,000 application fee collected from the job seekers.
Before the order was rescinded, the minister was said to have gone ahead to carry out the recruitment, refusing to also make refunds to applicants.
Scores of the applicants who presented themselves for the aptitude test nationwide on Saturday were either trampled to death during stampede or suffocated from tear gas and panic caused by sporadic shooting by security operatives at recruitment centres.
Daily Independent also reliably gathered that the Comptroller General of Immigration, David Paradang, was not aware of the planned recruitment tests until the week of the exercise, the same time the applicants got the notice from advertisements published by the ministry.
It was gathered that this is the first time the minister through the Civil Defence Fire Prisons and Immigration Board (CDFPIB) would be conducting recruitment across all ranks.
The normal rule is that the board jointly handles recruitment for Grade Level 8 upwards with the respective service management.
Whereas management of the Service handles recruitment for Grade Level 7 down, regarded as junior officers.
A little less than one million people filled the online application form for both the junior and senior cadre vacancies, each paying N1,000 to some dedicated bank accounts allegedly controlled by the wife of a most prominent Senator.
When the National Assembly queried the collection of N1,000 from applicants last year, the minister had replied that the money went to the consultant hired to organise the recruitment portal.
“How can consultants recruit for a paramilitary body?” a senior official queried.
Meanwhile, of the almost a billion naira realised from application fees nothing was allegedly released to the NIS to mobilise for the recruitment tests nationwide.
Officers mobilised by the service to supervise the recruitment exercise in Lagos were said to be ignorant of modalities until the Lagos comptroller arrived the National Stadium, Surulere, at about 10.00 a.m. on Saturday.
“I really do not know anything about when or how the exercise will begin, we received orders to be at the stadium today and we are here; let’s wait and see what happens,” a senior officer of NIS said in reply to a question on Saturday in Lagos.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had the highest number of applicants that attended the recruitment test on Saturday with 68,941.
Lagos followed with 50,941, Rivers State had over 22,300 and Edo State had over 20,700.
Other states had less than 20,000 applicants but a few others had less than 10,000, according to impeccable source.
Seven people were confirmed dead in Abuja in the stampede that ensued in the poorly planned recruitment test.
Five persons were also feared dead in Rivers State during the exercise, which held at the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, in Port Harcourt.
In Benin, one pregnant woman who came to attend the recruitment exercise at the main bowl of Sam Ogbemudia Stadium was confirmed dead.
Also in Minna, Niger State, at least three persons of the 11,000 candidates that showed up at Women Day Secondary School Minna slumped and died.
In Lagos also, the exercise was largely chaotic, as a crowd of applicants milled from the National Stadium to the public highway, making vehicular movement largely difficult.
Reports also indicated that no fewer than 10 persons were injured at various skirmishes that marred the exercise.
Due to the poor coordination, forms earlier submitted were thrown away and littered the floor, confirming fears that the recruitment exercise was just a sham, as slots had already been allocated to some public officials and influential Nigerians.
Even the exam question papers, also littered the main bowl, some of them torn apart, as people struggled to collect them when they sensed a purported plan to hoard the question papers, creating anxiety among applicants.
Spokesman of the Lagos command of the NIS, Muyiwa Odunubi, said he could not talk on the preparation made to accommodate the crowd that turned up.
“How do you think we can manage over 50,000 people? he asked, saying everything is clear for all to see.
He said his bosses are around and that he cannot speak for the command until he gets authority to do so.
But when asked if the command did not envisage the crowd that came, he had no answer.
Moro allegedly has governorship ambition.
Eighty per cent of the slots to be filled in the recruitment was said to have been allocated to prominent Nigerians.
This meant that the crowd of applicants that thronged the various recruitment centres were actually struggling for about 20 per cent of the entire vacancies.
Moro himself, however, spoke in Abuja on Sunday where he denied any wrong doing, especially over claim that over one million people applied for the job.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja, Moro explained that the ministry and the NIS did all that was possible to avoid the tragedy. He explained that contrary to figures bandied, only 526, 650 people applied for various job positions in the NIS. He added that the ministry ensured that adequate logistic and security provisions were made to accommodate the number of applicants nationwide. The minister announced immediate suspension of the ill-fated recruitment exercise, assuring that a committee will soon be set up to thoroughly investigate the tragedy.
This is coming just as families of the dead at the job recruitment stampede in the FCT stormed the National Hospital, Abuja, on Sunday morning, demanding release of the remains of their loved ones for immediate burial.
One of the families, who are of the Islamic faith, said the continued stay of remains of their daughter and sister, Oiza Yusuf, in the hospital morgue was against the Islamic faith.
Her remains ought to have been interred on Saturday evening when she died, they contended.
Brother of the deceased, Mohammed Yekini, an engineer from Kogi State, said the family was distraught at the demise of 35-year-old businesswoman whom, he said, was one of the breadwinners in the family.
According to him, Oiza Yusuf was defrauded of N150,000 sometime last year over the same immigration job.
He said the manner the exercise was conducted left much to be desired, and wondered how exam could have been conducted for 68,000 persons in one day.
Meanwhile, Moro has directed immediate release of remains of the dead job seekers to their individual families by the hospital authorities.
He further directed that as soon all formalities for such releases were made, the remains should be released.
He consoled the bereaved families for the sad loss of their loved ones.
He pleaded with the affected families to keep in touch with the ministry for further assistance,
Moro who was accompanied by Comptroller General of the NIS, David Paradang, in an early morning call to see some of the injured at the hospital, said his ministry and the NIS will do all that is possible to ameliorate consequences of the stampede.
At the time of the visit about 11 persons, eight male and three female applicants, who sustained injuries were still at the hospital.
Only one male victim was still at the emergency unit of the hospital when Daily Independent called.
The minister also observed the pace of their recovery.
“Most of them have sufficiently recovered from the trauma of Saturday and are in stable condition. We have discussed with them, and we thank God Almighty that the situation has calmed down.
“I am also aware of the number of persons that died and identified. By their account here, we have five females and two males. Some members of families of the dead have also shown up and we have interacted with them.”
Moro dismissed any suggestion that survivors of stampede whose details were being collected by his aides would be given automatic employment, saying the exercise cannot go on in the present circumstances.
According to him, the focus of the ministry for now is to help the families of the dead applicants mourn their loved ones as well as ensure reduction of human suffering occasioned by the stampede.
But All Progressives Congress (APC) placed the blame for the tragedy squally at the doorstep of the minister, saying it was greatly distressed by the death of the job seeking youths.
In a statement in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, ‘the party said the Minister of Interior must bear direct responsibility for the needless deaths by immediately stepping down from his post, if he has any honour left, or be fired”.
The party added, however, the overall responsibility is that of President Goodluck Jonathan, “who now seems to be bent on leaving a dubious legacy of bad leadership that has led to a grim harvest of deaths from insecurity, widespread violence and now job stampede, among others”.
APC commiserated with families of the victims and wished those who were injured a speedy recovery.
‘’Despite huge yearly budgets rolled out since 1999, the PDP-led Federal Government has failed to create jobs for our teeming youth, and the number of those who are jobless has now reached such an alarming rate that a job emergency may have to be declared to avert an impending cataclysm.
‘’Massive mindless looting of the public treasury has seen funds that could have been used to create millions of jobs end up in the deep pockets of corrupt government and PDP officials, without any consequence for the thieves, while the incompetent Federal Government led by a clueless President continues to deceive the public with cooked figures showing job creation where indeed there have been job losses.
‘’Today, sadly, the truth has been laid bare: 5,000 or so vacancies declared by NIS have attracted over six million applicants, from which over half a million was shortlisted, according to published reports, and the desperation of our youth to eke out a decent living has been exploited by a villainous government that forced each applicant to cough out 1,000 Naira, thus raking in 6 billion Naira from jobless people,’’ the party said.
It said the Ministry of Interior has many questions to answer over the apparently-shoddy arrangements made for the job tests in 37 venues nationwide.
‘’Is it true that the Minister directly presided over the recruitment and money-making venture? Could this have been part of the government’s fund-raising measures for the 2015 elections?
“Why will a government seek to profit from a malaise it created by charging hapless job seekers 1,000 Naira each? Why was a huge number of applicants invited for only 5,000 jobs or less?
“Why was such a shoddy arrangement made for the test when so many people were invited?
“Could the test not have been done in batches to avoid a stampede? How much indeed was realised from this glaring extortion of job seekers? What happened to the money?
“These are some of the questions begging for answers.
‘’An investigation into the needless deaths of our youth, under a government that has failed them in every respect, must seek to answer those questions and recommend ways to avoid a recurrence.
“At least if a government cannot create jobs, it must neither profit from its incompetence nor send the victims of its ineptitude to their early graves,’’ APC said.
Trade Union Congress (TUC) called for a probe into the stampede at the recruitment centres.
Describing the incident as a national disaster and embarrassment to the country, TUC said such probe should equally involve the alleged sums of money collected from the applicants with a promise to give them employment.
In a statement jointly signed by TUC President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and General Secretary, Musa Lawal, the union wondered why everything about Nigeria is always problematic.
Another group, Education Rights Campaign (ERC), called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the TUC to organise a mass protest over “the avoidable waste of the lives of scores of unemployed Nigerian youths”.
ERC in a statement by its National Coordinator, Hassan Soweto, and National Secretary, Michael Ogundele, on Sunday urged the labour movement to organise a mass procession to protest and demand a probe in the tragedy.
In the same vein, a pro-democracy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), condemned what it called the malpractice of demanding payment of N1, 000.00 from each job applicant by the management of the NIS.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said “charging job applicants before taking test to be recruited into the para-military outfit is not only a criminal scheme that undermines national security but also economically impoverishes the Nigerian youth who are deceived into parting with their scarcely available financial resources for job slots that are only available for only a hand full”.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has described stampede that resulted in the death of applicants at the recruitment centres as unfortunate.
In the same vein, he described as a great loss to the nation, the demise of former President General of the pan-Igbo socio-political group Ohaneze Ndigbo, Ralph Uwechue.
Tambuwal spoke in two separate statements signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Imam Imam, on Sunday.
Condemning the untimely death of the job seekers, the Speaker said the death of the innocent youths was sorrowful and regrettable considering the fact that they were at the screening centres in search of jobs that will better their lots and that of their loved ones.
He asked the authorities concerned to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the tragedy, and advised them to map out strategies to prevent future occurrence.
Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, similarly condoled with the families of the dead and wounded applicants at the NIS recruitment examination centres.
In a statement in Abuja, Ndoma-Egba bemoaned the high level of unemployment in the country and pleaded with government to create employment opportunities for Nigerian youths.
He said “as a nation, this is an unimaginable tragedy. These deaths are coming at a time when the nation is grappling with the unwarranted deaths of innocent citizens at the hands of the Boko Haram sect”.
The Senate Leader regretted that “this is a tragic reminder that our nation must do something very urgently to create opportunities for young men and women; we must do everything to generate employment.”
Investigations by Daily Independent revealed that there was a subsisting order by the National Assembly for the minister to put the recruitment on hold and refund the N1,000 application fee collected from the job seekers.
Before the order was rescinded, the minister was said to have gone ahead to carry out the recruitment, refusing to also make refunds to applicants.
Scores of the applicants who presented themselves for the aptitude test nationwide on Saturday were either trampled to death during stampede or suffocated from tear gas and panic caused by sporadic shooting by security operatives at recruitment centres.
Daily Independent also reliably gathered that the Comptroller General of Immigration, David Paradang, was not aware of the planned recruitment tests until the week of the exercise, the same time the applicants got the notice from advertisements published by the ministry.
It was gathered that this is the first time the minister through the Civil Defence Fire Prisons and Immigration Board (CDFPIB) would be conducting recruitment across all ranks.
The normal rule is that the board jointly handles recruitment for Grade Level 8 upwards with the respective service management.
Whereas management of the Service handles recruitment for Grade Level 7 down, regarded as junior officers.
A little less than one million people filled the online application form for both the junior and senior cadre vacancies, each paying N1,000 to some dedicated bank accounts allegedly controlled by the wife of a most prominent Senator.
When the National Assembly queried the collection of N1,000 from applicants last year, the minister had replied that the money went to the consultant hired to organise the recruitment portal.
“How can consultants recruit for a paramilitary body?” a senior official queried.
Meanwhile, of the almost a billion naira realised from application fees nothing was allegedly released to the NIS to mobilise for the recruitment tests nationwide.
Officers mobilised by the service to supervise the recruitment exercise in Lagos were said to be ignorant of modalities until the Lagos comptroller arrived the National Stadium, Surulere, at about 10.00 a.m. on Saturday.
“I really do not know anything about when or how the exercise will begin, we received orders to be at the stadium today and we are here; let’s wait and see what happens,” a senior officer of NIS said in reply to a question on Saturday in Lagos.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had the highest number of applicants that attended the recruitment test on Saturday with 68,941.
Lagos followed with 50,941, Rivers State had over 22,300 and Edo State had over 20,700.
Other states had less than 20,000 applicants but a few others had less than 10,000, according to impeccable source.
Seven people were confirmed dead in Abuja in the stampede that ensued in the poorly planned recruitment test.
Five persons were also feared dead in Rivers State during the exercise, which held at the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, in Port Harcourt.
In Benin, one pregnant woman who came to attend the recruitment exercise at the main bowl of Sam Ogbemudia Stadium was confirmed dead.
Also in Minna, Niger State, at least three persons of the 11,000 candidates that showed up at Women Day Secondary School Minna slumped and died.
In Lagos also, the exercise was largely chaotic, as a crowd of applicants milled from the National Stadium to the public highway, making vehicular movement largely difficult.
Reports also indicated that no fewer than 10 persons were injured at various skirmishes that marred the exercise.
Due to the poor coordination, forms earlier submitted were thrown away and littered the floor, confirming fears that the recruitment exercise was just a sham, as slots had already been allocated to some public officials and influential Nigerians.
Even the exam question papers, also littered the main bowl, some of them torn apart, as people struggled to collect them when they sensed a purported plan to hoard the question papers, creating anxiety among applicants.
Spokesman of the Lagos command of the NIS, Muyiwa Odunubi, said he could not talk on the preparation made to accommodate the crowd that turned up.
“How do you think we can manage over 50,000 people? he asked, saying everything is clear for all to see.
He said his bosses are around and that he cannot speak for the command until he gets authority to do so.
But when asked if the command did not envisage the crowd that came, he had no answer.
Moro allegedly has governorship ambition.
Eighty per cent of the slots to be filled in the recruitment was said to have been allocated to prominent Nigerians.
This meant that the crowd of applicants that thronged the various recruitment centres were actually struggling for about 20 per cent of the entire vacancies.
Moro himself, however, spoke in Abuja on Sunday where he denied any wrong doing, especially over claim that over one million people applied for the job.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja, Moro explained that the ministry and the NIS did all that was possible to avoid the tragedy. He explained that contrary to figures bandied, only 526, 650 people applied for various job positions in the NIS. He added that the ministry ensured that adequate logistic and security provisions were made to accommodate the number of applicants nationwide. The minister announced immediate suspension of the ill-fated recruitment exercise, assuring that a committee will soon be set up to thoroughly investigate the tragedy.
This is coming just as families of the dead at the job recruitment stampede in the FCT stormed the National Hospital, Abuja, on Sunday morning, demanding release of the remains of their loved ones for immediate burial.
One of the families, who are of the Islamic faith, said the continued stay of remains of their daughter and sister, Oiza Yusuf, in the hospital morgue was against the Islamic faith.
Her remains ought to have been interred on Saturday evening when she died, they contended.
Brother of the deceased, Mohammed Yekini, an engineer from Kogi State, said the family was distraught at the demise of 35-year-old businesswoman whom, he said, was one of the breadwinners in the family.
According to him, Oiza Yusuf was defrauded of N150,000 sometime last year over the same immigration job.
He said the manner the exercise was conducted left much to be desired, and wondered how exam could have been conducted for 68,000 persons in one day.
Meanwhile, Moro has directed immediate release of remains of the dead job seekers to their individual families by the hospital authorities.
He further directed that as soon all formalities for such releases were made, the remains should be released.
He consoled the bereaved families for the sad loss of their loved ones.
He pleaded with the affected families to keep in touch with the ministry for further assistance,
Moro who was accompanied by Comptroller General of the NIS, David Paradang, in an early morning call to see some of the injured at the hospital, said his ministry and the NIS will do all that is possible to ameliorate consequences of the stampede.
At the time of the visit about 11 persons, eight male and three female applicants, who sustained injuries were still at the hospital.
Only one male victim was still at the emergency unit of the hospital when Daily Independent called.
The minister also observed the pace of their recovery.
“Most of them have sufficiently recovered from the trauma of Saturday and are in stable condition. We have discussed with them, and we thank God Almighty that the situation has calmed down.
“I am also aware of the number of persons that died and identified. By their account here, we have five females and two males. Some members of families of the dead have also shown up and we have interacted with them.”
Moro dismissed any suggestion that survivors of stampede whose details were being collected by his aides would be given automatic employment, saying the exercise cannot go on in the present circumstances.
According to him, the focus of the ministry for now is to help the families of the dead applicants mourn their loved ones as well as ensure reduction of human suffering occasioned by the stampede.
But All Progressives Congress (APC) placed the blame for the tragedy squally at the doorstep of the minister, saying it was greatly distressed by the death of the job seeking youths.
In a statement in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, ‘the party said the Minister of Interior must bear direct responsibility for the needless deaths by immediately stepping down from his post, if he has any honour left, or be fired”.
The party added, however, the overall responsibility is that of President Goodluck Jonathan, “who now seems to be bent on leaving a dubious legacy of bad leadership that has led to a grim harvest of deaths from insecurity, widespread violence and now job stampede, among others”.
APC commiserated with families of the victims and wished those who were injured a speedy recovery.
‘’Despite huge yearly budgets rolled out since 1999, the PDP-led Federal Government has failed to create jobs for our teeming youth, and the number of those who are jobless has now reached such an alarming rate that a job emergency may have to be declared to avert an impending cataclysm.
‘’Massive mindless looting of the public treasury has seen funds that could have been used to create millions of jobs end up in the deep pockets of corrupt government and PDP officials, without any consequence for the thieves, while the incompetent Federal Government led by a clueless President continues to deceive the public with cooked figures showing job creation where indeed there have been job losses.
‘’Today, sadly, the truth has been laid bare: 5,000 or so vacancies declared by NIS have attracted over six million applicants, from which over half a million was shortlisted, according to published reports, and the desperation of our youth to eke out a decent living has been exploited by a villainous government that forced each applicant to cough out 1,000 Naira, thus raking in 6 billion Naira from jobless people,’’ the party said.
It said the Ministry of Interior has many questions to answer over the apparently-shoddy arrangements made for the job tests in 37 venues nationwide.
‘’Is it true that the Minister directly presided over the recruitment and money-making venture? Could this have been part of the government’s fund-raising measures for the 2015 elections?
“Why will a government seek to profit from a malaise it created by charging hapless job seekers 1,000 Naira each? Why was a huge number of applicants invited for only 5,000 jobs or less?
“Why was such a shoddy arrangement made for the test when so many people were invited?
“Could the test not have been done in batches to avoid a stampede? How much indeed was realised from this glaring extortion of job seekers? What happened to the money?
“These are some of the questions begging for answers.
‘’An investigation into the needless deaths of our youth, under a government that has failed them in every respect, must seek to answer those questions and recommend ways to avoid a recurrence.
“At least if a government cannot create jobs, it must neither profit from its incompetence nor send the victims of its ineptitude to their early graves,’’ APC said.
Trade Union Congress (TUC) called for a probe into the stampede at the recruitment centres.
Describing the incident as a national disaster and embarrassment to the country, TUC said such probe should equally involve the alleged sums of money collected from the applicants with a promise to give them employment.
In a statement jointly signed by TUC President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and General Secretary, Musa Lawal, the union wondered why everything about Nigeria is always problematic.
Another group, Education Rights Campaign (ERC), called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the TUC to organise a mass protest over “the avoidable waste of the lives of scores of unemployed Nigerian youths”.
ERC in a statement by its National Coordinator, Hassan Soweto, and National Secretary, Michael Ogundele, on Sunday urged the labour movement to organise a mass procession to protest and demand a probe in the tragedy.
In the same vein, a pro-democracy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), condemned what it called the malpractice of demanding payment of N1, 000.00 from each job applicant by the management of the NIS.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said “charging job applicants before taking test to be recruited into the para-military outfit is not only a criminal scheme that undermines national security but also economically impoverishes the Nigerian youth who are deceived into parting with their scarcely available financial resources for job slots that are only available for only a hand full”.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has described stampede that resulted in the death of applicants at the recruitment centres as unfortunate.
In the same vein, he described as a great loss to the nation, the demise of former President General of the pan-Igbo socio-political group Ohaneze Ndigbo, Ralph Uwechue.
Tambuwal spoke in two separate statements signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Imam Imam, on Sunday.
Condemning the untimely death of the job seekers, the Speaker said the death of the innocent youths was sorrowful and regrettable considering the fact that they were at the screening centres in search of jobs that will better their lots and that of their loved ones.
He asked the authorities concerned to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the tragedy, and advised them to map out strategies to prevent future occurrence.
Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, similarly condoled with the families of the dead and wounded applicants at the NIS recruitment examination centres.
In a statement in Abuja, Ndoma-Egba bemoaned the high level of unemployment in the country and pleaded with government to create employment opportunities for Nigerian youths.
He said “as a nation, this is an unimaginable tragedy. These deaths are coming at a time when the nation is grappling with the unwarranted deaths of innocent citizens at the hands of the Boko Haram sect”.
The Senate Leader regretted that “this is a tragic reminder that our nation must do something very urgently to create opportunities for young men and women; we must do everything to generate employment.”
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