Following the deaths of about 20 people across the country during Saturday’s job recruitment exercise by the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS; several Nigerians have called for the dismissal of Abba Moro, Nigeria’s Interior Minister.
Their petition, issued Sunday, also called for the dismissal of David Parradang, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, as well as the criminal prosecution of the duo for involuntary homicide.
The petition was signed by Chidi Odinkalu, Chairman of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission; Nasir El-Rufai, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory; Ayo Obe, lawyer and human rights activist; Bashir Tofa, former Presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention; Aliyu Modibbo, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Teritory and 57 others.
“The Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police together with the Director-General of State Security, should launch a joint criminal investigation into the deaths of these job seekers,” the statement said.
“An independent audit should immediately be instituted into the monies made by the Ministry and the NIS from the job seekers and criminal investigations should be commenced as appropriate,” it added.
On Saturday, stampedes at various centres of the NIS recruitment exercise across the country led to the death of many of the job seekers, including pregnant mothers.
In Abuja alone, seven job applicants lost their lives during a stampede at the overcrowded 60,000 capacity Abuja National Stadium.
Only 4,556 vacancies were advertised by the NIS, but 520,000 applicants registered to write the recruitment test. Each applicant was required to pay a N1,000 processing fee to be eligible to participate.
A PREMIUM TIMES report estimated that the NIS made at least N520 million from this compulsory levy imposed on applicants.
The extortion of the job seekers was done in flagrant disregard of the directive by the House of Representatives that government agency should desist from charging applicants taking part in recruitment exercises.
However, in his reaction to Saturday’s tragedy, Mr. Moro attributed the deaths to the applicants’ “impatience.”
“The applicants lost their lives due to impatience; they did not follow the laid down procedures spelt out to them before the exercise,” Mr. Moro had said.
“Many of them jumped through the fences of affected centres and did not conduct themselves in an orderly manner to make the exercise a smooth one,” Mr. Moro had added.
Mr. Moro’s comment sparked anger across Nigeria on Sunday with many citizens taking to social media to call for his immediate sack.
The statement from these eminent Nigerians appears a response to that call.
The petitioners described Mr. Moro’s reaction as “a callous disregard for the lives of Nigerians” incompatible with his office.
“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 job seekers is inexcusable.
“The deaths that resulted from these failures, therefore, were unlawful. 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 petitioner said in their statement.
“The effort by the Minister responsible for citizenship in Nigeria to blame the victims rather than take responsibility shows a callous disregard for the lives of Nigerians incompatible with his high Ministerial brief. It brings public service into disrepute,” it added.
Among those who signed the statement were former Presidential candidate for the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) Bashir Othman Tofa and the Chairman of National Human Rights Council, Chidi Odinkalu, Novelist Lola Shoneyin, Lawyer Ayo Obe and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yemi Candide-Johnson.
Others are: Ayesha Imam, Jibrin Ibrahim, Ishyaku Mohammed, Olusegun Adeniyi, Hussaini Abdu, Femi Edun, Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, Abba Kyari, Kole Shettima, Maryam Uwais, Ebere Onwudiwe, Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, Yusuf Tuggar, Tajudeen Fola Adeola, Waziri Adio, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, Iniruo Wills, Yunusa Yau, Nasir Ladan, Jeremy Weate and many others. See full list below.
Online Petition
In similar vein, a group known as Champions for Nigeria has started an online petition on a UK-based online petition platform Change.com asking President Jonathan to immediately sack Messrs Moro and Shikfu.
They alleged corruption in the recruitment process.
“I was reliably informed that some candidates (these did not bother to attend the examination) paid huge sums, as high as N300,000.00 to secure employment as Immigration Officers,” the petitioner said.
“So if you paid a bribe to get a job and you get the job, (1) you will have to demand bribes to recover the money you paid as bribe in the first place, or (2) as some kind of warped revenge for paying a bribe or (3) forced by your employers, superiors and/or the prevailing rotten corrupt environment to demand bribes from the public.
“This is pointer to the source of our endless, ingrained and endemic corruption! This same scenario happens in the civil service, the police force, the military, the customs service, even the private sector, most especially the banks, and in all sectors of the labour and governance in the country. Why must unemployed youths pay to get application forms from the Federal Government?”
Unfortunately the petition doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction as only 424 people have signed it as at 9.30p.m. on Sunday.
Read the statement by Mr. Tofa and 61 other Nigerians below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR, COMRADE ABBA MORO, AND THE CONTROLLER-GENERAL OF IMMIGRATION, DAVID SHIKFU PARRADANG, SHOULD BE RELIEVED OF THEIR POSITIONS AND FACE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR INVOLUNTARY HOMICIDE
ABUJA/LAGOS, 16 March, 2014: On Saturday, 15 March 2014, hundreds of thousands of job-seekers attended job-seeking examinations organised by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in different centres in Nigeria to fill 4,556 vacancies. The NIS is supervised by the Ministry of the Interior.
The Ministry and the NIS had compelled each jobseeker, as an eligibility condition for participating in this hire process, to pay the sum of one thousand Naira (N1,000). There is no evidence that these sums were remitted to the Federation Account as required by law.
In most places, these job-seeking examinations took place in stadia, suggesting that the organisers anticipated large turn outs. Inexplicably, they failed to make adequate or any arrangements for crowd management and control.
At different centres around the country, including Abuja, Benin, Kano, Minna, and Port-Harcourt, many job-seekers, including pregnant mothers, were killed and lots more were injured in stampedes caused by grossly negligent and uncaring ground arrangements.
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.
The deaths that resulted from these failures, therefore, were unlawful. 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.
In his reaction to the deaths, Minister of the Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, accused the victims of “impatience”, claiming that the deaths resulted because “they did not follow the laid down procedures spelt out to them before the exercise.”
The effort by the Minister responsible for citizenship in Nigeria to blame the victims rather than take responsibility shows a callous disregard for the lives of Nigerians incompatible with his high Ministerial brief. It brings public service into disrepute. In the circumstances, we the undersigned, as citizens of Nigeria, respectfully demand that:
The Minister of the Interior, Comrade Abba Moro; and the Controller –General of Immigration, Mr. David Shikfu Parradang, be immediately relieved of their positions;
The Honorable Attorney-General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police together with the Director-General of State Security, should launch a joint criminal investigation into the deaths of these jobseekers;
An independent audit should immediately be instituted into the monies made by the Ministry and the NIS from the jobseekers and criminal investigations should be commenced as appropriate;
Government should demonstrate a readiness to address the problem of youth unemployment as a national security priority through a partnership involving the agricultural sector, public sector, private sector, voluntary sector, and multi-laterals.
To the families across the country bereaved as a result of these and other on going challenges in our country, we take this opportunity to transmit heartfelt condolences and pray for the peaceful repose of the souls of our deceased brothers and sisters.
Signed,
1. Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa
2. Dr. Ayesha Imam,
3. Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim,
4. Dr. Ishiyaku Mohammed,
5. Dr. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu,
6. Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi
7. Dr. Hussaini Abdu,
8. Mr. Femi Edun,
9. Dr. Abubakar Siddique Mohammed
10. Mal. Abba Kyari
11. Dr. Kole Shettima
12. Mrs. Maryam Uwais
13. Prof. Ebere Onwudiwe
14. Mal. Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai
15. Hon. Yusuf Tuggar
16. Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson, SAN
17. Alhaji Tajudeen Fola Adeola
18. Waziri Adio
19. Alhaji Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim
20. Iniruo Wills
21. Mrs. Ayo Obe
22. Y. Z. Ya’u
23. Nasir Ladan
24. Dr. Jeremy Weate
25. Prof. Nsongurua Udombana
26. Dr. Charmaine Perreira
27. Saka Azimazi
28. Dr. Bibi Bakare-Yusuf
29. Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN
30. Jibrin Okutepa, SAN
31. Chief Ziggy Azike, KSC
32. Roland Ewubare
33. Mrs. Stella Ugboma
34. Prof. Ernest Ojukwu
35. Chukwuma Odelugo
36. Dr. Solomon Ebobrah
37. Afolabi Kuti
38. Mrs. Victoria Ibezim-Ohiaeri
39. Ms. Seember Nyagher
40. Dr. Joan Oviawe
41. Ikeazor Akaraiwe
42. Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani)
43. Doueyi Fiderekumo
44. Dakorim Boma Odunuga
45. Alaezi Nmezi
46. Dele Aloko
47. Mrs. Ozioma Izuora
48. Ms. Lola Shoneyin
49. Mal. Bilya Bala
50. Dr. Aliyu Modibbo
51. Uba Saidu Malami
52. Obinna Anaba
53. Ms. Wumi Asubiaro
54. Alhaji Suleiman Adamu
55. Mr. Obi Akaraiwe
56. Ngozi Iwere
57. Asma’u Joda
58. Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed
59. Mal. Ishaq Modibbo Kawu
60. Ms. Nwanda Oluka
61. Ndionyemma Nwankwo
62. Mrs. Laila St. Matthew-Daniel
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