NIGERIA: The desire of some Nigerian youths to be employed in the Nigeria Immigration
Service, NIS ended tragically on Saturday as news across the country indicated
that many of the job seekers lost their lives in the stampede and confusion that
marred the recruitment process conducted at Stadiums.
It was gathered that 700,000 applied for the 5,000 vacancies in the
service.
The applicants paid N1000.00 each for their applications which was done
online.
The deaths result mainly from very poor crowd management.
Scores of injured applicants are also said to be on admission in several
parts of the country.
In Abuja, authorities of National Hospital, Abuja, confirmed seven dead among
the 67,000 applicants who had converged at the National Stadium venue of the
test as early as 6 am this morning.
Mr Tayo Haastrup, the spokesman for the hospital, identified the deceased to
include five women and two men. He added that they were brought in dead and that
the bodies had been deposited at the mortuary.
According to a report by PM News, some of those injured were taken to other hospitals
because of lack of space at the National Hospital.
Immigration recruitment: A fainted woman being carried
in Ibadan
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) also confirmed that 40 other
applicants were hospitalized in Abuja.
Some of the eyewitnesses who were also at the National Hospital blamed the
deaths on the mismanagement of the recruitment process by concerned government
officials. “If there is no order, nothing can be achieved,’’ the official
added.
It was gathered that though most of the applicants had gathered at the
Stadium as early as 6 am, the gate was not opened until around 10.30 am and it
was the stampede that followed that claimed the lives of the seven
applicants.
In Rivers State, hospital authorities at the government-owned Braithwaite
Memorial Hospital in Port Harcourt also confirmed that four candidates died
during a stampede in the recruitment with over 20,000 participants.
Four others were said to be in critical condition because they were trampled
upon during the stampede.
It was learnt that the stampede was caused when some soldiers started
shooting in the air to control the crowd
A pregnant woman was among the dead in Rivers State.
In Benin, Edo State, reports indicated that three pregnant women died
immediately inside the main bowl of Samuel Ogbemudia stadium venue of the
recruitment exercise as a result of stampede caused by sporadic shooting of
soldiers who were helping the officers conduct the exercise control the over
28,000 applicants.
Over 20 other applicants were injured. Reports also indicated that thousands
of applicants were also trapped in stampedes Saturday at different venues for
the Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment test in Kano, Benue and Gombe
States.
News agency report indicated that about 10 applicants, including three
expectant mothers, fainted while waiting for the commencement of the test which
is part of the recruitment process Imo State.
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