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Tag: stampede

  • How stampede happened, by MURIC

    How stampede happened, by MURIC

    MURIC Director Prof. Ishaq Akintola has accused Saudi Arabia’s authority of not doing enough to forestall the stampede.

    Akintola, who is also performing the Hajj, decried the loss of lives of highly-placed Nigerians in the stampede.

    “We are devastated and we are in a mourning mood with the bereaved families,” he said.

    Recounting how the incident occurred, Akintola said: “As eyewitnesses of the gory stampede incident, we testify that it was caused by security breakdown on the part of the Saudi authorities. We left Muzdalifah for Mina around 6am on that fateful day. We branched in the NAHCON camp to drop our personal effects and headed straight to Jamrat which was less than three kilometres away.   To our surprise, the road was blocked by Egyptian pilgrims who had cast their own stones and were returning to their camp. Instead of taking the route designated for returning pilgrims, they stubbornly took the route meant for those who were going.

    “The road became narrow and movement became difficult. The atmosphere became charged and even breathing and visibility were affected. The few policemen around desperately threw water at us to save us from collapsing. It became glaring to us at that moment that a monumental stampede was just around the corner

    “The Saudi authorities therefore lied when they tried to put the blame squarely on African pilgrims. The stampede would not have occurred at all if Saudi security agents had disallowed pilgrims returning from the Jamrat from taking the same route on their way back.

    “The practice over the years has always been to take a detour but this was not enforced last Thursday. The fact that the road to the same Jamrat became very free and safe yesterday and this (Saturday) morning when Saudi security agents strictly enforced the rules by disallowing returning pilgrims to use the same route as those going proves that our hypothesis is correct.

    “This is criminal negligence and the Saudi authorities must be held accountable. We urge the Nigerian government to support NAHCON’s stand on this. Nigeria must demand compensation from the Saudis for families of the bereaved.

    “We should also task the Saudis to involve the world Muslim Ummah in the planning and implementation of the annual Hajj exercise in view of the emerging scenario of complacency on the part of the Saudi authorities.”

    MURIC hailed NAHCON for insisting that Nigeria should be part of any investigation of the tragedy.

  • Nigeria’s death toll in Saudi stampede hits 56

    Nigeria’s death toll in Saudi stampede hits 56

    •North worst-hit

    •Cross River, Ogun, others affected

    No fewer than 56 Nigerian pilgrims died in the Hajj stampede last week.

    About 77 others were injured. Many are still missing.

    The figures were released last night  at a news conference in Makkah  by the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Abdullahi Mukhtar.

    The briefing, which was delayed because of consultations with the nation’s Consular Office in Makkah, marked the first official confirmation of Nigeria’s death toll.

    The NAHCON chief said most of the victims and the injured came from the North.

    Some of the affected states are Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, Taraba, Zamfara, Ogun

    Mukhtar said: “42 pilgrims under the State Pilgrims Welfare Boards have been confirmed dead alongside two officials from NAHCON. Also, 12 pilgrims who came in through tour operators  died in the stampede too.

    “I think 61 state pilgrims welfare boards and 16 from tour operators (Private Hajj Operators) got injured in the stampede. We will update you as the information comes.”

    On the missing pilgrims, he said:”We cannot give you the full figure until the ongoing head count is concluded.”

  • Two Court of Appeal Justices among victims of Saudi Arabia stampede

    Two Justices of the Court of Appeal are among the hundreds of pilgrims who died in the stampede in Saudi Arabia.
    They are Justices Abdulkadir Abubakar Jega and Musa Hassan Alkali.
    Justice Jega was the presiding Justice of Abuja division, while Justice Alkali was of the Ilorin division of the Court of Appeal.
    It was learnt that they were in Saudi Arabia for the annual Holy Pilgrimage.
    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed has sent condolence messages to families of the two late judicial officers.
    Media aide to the CJN, Ahurakah Isah said, in a statement issued Saturday evening, that the CJN commiserates, on behalf of the nation’s Judiciary, with “the Court of Appeal and the families of two Justices of the Court of Appeal who died during the unfortunate stampede last Thursday 24 September 2015 in Mina, Saudi Arabia while in the Holy Land to perform Hajj Pilgrimage.”
    “The Chief Justice of Nigeria said the death of the revered jurists is not just a huge loss to the Judiciary ,but Nigeria in entirety, adding that both men of the Bench have contributed immensely to the development of our jurisprudence.
    “The CJN, Justice Mohammed on behalf of the entire Judiciary in the country prayed the Almighty Allah to grant the soul of the departed Justices eternal rest and their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
    “Justice Mohammed expressed his personal condolences to the immediate family and relations as well as friends and associates of the highly respected jurists who will be greatly missed by the entire judiciary.
    “His Lordship urges members of the deceased families to be comforted by the knowledge that the departed jurists served their country with commitment, dedication ‎and honesty.
    “The CJN‎ prays that Almighty Allah will receive their soul and grant them al-janah,” Isah said.

  • Nigerians among 717 Saudi stampede victims

    Nigerians among 717 Saudi stampede victims

    No fewer than 717 people, including Nigerians, taking part in the Hajj pilgrimage were yesterday killed in a stampede near the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

    Another 863 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj’s last major rite.

    It is the deadliest incident to occur during the Hajj in 25 years. About two million people are performing Hajj this year including 70,000 Nigerians.

    One of Nigeria’s  respected Islamic intellectuals, Prof. Tijani El-Miskin, is among the casualties.

    El-Miskin was a professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies. He was among the 11 candidates who last year vied for appointment as University of Maiduguri Vice Chancellor.

    El-Miskin was Chairman of Borno State Pilgrims Welfare Board.

    In a text message from Saudi Arabia, Alhaji Umar Farouk, who went on the pilgrimage with the late El-Miskin, expressed deep grief over the loss of lives, adding that “whatever happens to man is the wish of Almighty Allah”.

     He lectured at the  Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna years ago.

    The late professor was well known as a strong advocate of the unity of the Muslim Ummah.

    Hundreds of pilgrims died during the stampede at Jamrat in Saudi Arabia

     They were participating in the  devil-stoning rituals when the incident occurred on Thursday morning.

    Preparations for this year’s Hajj were first marred when a crane collapsed at Mecca’s Grand Mosque last week. 111 people were killed in that incident.

    Pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about five kilometres from Mecca, during the Hajj to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil.

    The pillars stand at three spots where Satan is believed to have tempted Prophet Abraham.

    People were going towards the direction of throwing the stones while others were coming from the opposite direction. Then it became chaotic and suddenly people started going down.

    There were people from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Senegal among other nationalities. People were just climbing on top of others in order to move to a safer place and that’s how some people died.

    People were chanting Allah’s name, while others were crying, including children and infants. People fell on the ground seeking help but there was no-one to give them a helping hand. Everybody seemed to be on their own.

    “It affected some members of our group. I lost my aunt as a result of the stampede and at the moment, two women from our entourage – a mother and her daughter – are still missing,” a pilgrim said.

    The Saudi civil defence directorate said in a statement that the stampede occurred at around 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) at the junction of Street 204 and Street 223.

    The pilgrims were walking towards the five-storey structure which surrounds the pillars, known as the Jamarat Bridge.

    The incident happened when there was a “sudden increase” in the number of pilgrims heading towards the pillars, the statement said.

    This “resulted in a stampede among the pilgrims and the collapse of a large number of them”, it added.

    Security personnel and the Saudi Red Crescent were “immediately” deployed to prevent more people heading towards the area, the directorate said.

    The civil defence directorate said the victims were of “different nationalities”, without providing details.

    As well as victims from Niger witnessed by the BBC’s correspondent at the scene, Iran’s state news agency, Irna, said at least 47 Iranians were among the dead.

    The wounded were taken to four hospitals by more than 220 rescue vehicles.

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who headed an emergency meeting after the stampede, has ordered an investigation.

    The Saudi health minister, Khaled al-Falih, said the crush occurred because many pilgrims moved “without respecting the timetables” established by authorities.

    Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, had blamed the stampede on “some pilgrims with African nationalities”.

    But the head of Iran’s Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, told Irna that two paths close to the scene of the incident had been inexplicably closed off by the Saudi authorities, resulting in the build-up in pilgrims.

    The Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It is the journey that every able-bodied adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it.

    The number of people attending Hajj rose from 57,000 in 1921 to a high of 3.2m three years ago, according to the Saudi Central Department of Statistics and Information.

    That figure dropped to just over two million last year.

  • ‘How pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia’

    Death toll now 736

    The Saudi Arabian authorities have confirmed that at least 453 pilgrims taking part in the ongoing Hajj have died while 405 others sustained injuries Thursday on their way from Muzdalifa to Jamrat, where the symbolic stoning of devil takes place near the city of Makka.
    However, as at the time of filing this report, a Saudi Television Channel, ‘Saudi 2’ said death toll has risen to 736.
    According to various accounts, the incident was caused by a stampede close to Jamrat owing to the high number of pilgrims who have converged in Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage.
    Speaking to The Nation, Alhaji Muhamadu Ilela, a pilgrim from Sokoto state who was at the scene, said that the deaths occurred because the Saudi police blocked one of the gates leading to the Jamrat area.
    ‘’For over one hour, the queue didn’t move and we were in the scorching sun. After some time, people started collapsing because of the heat wave. This was what caused the initial deaths. A stampede followed which caused the deaths of most pilgrims,’’ Ilela stated.
    The eye witness said that the victims were of different nationalities.
    Speaking to our correspondent on phone, the Public Relations Officer of the state National Hajj Commission, Uba Mana said that Emir of Kano and Amir of the Hajj team and all other stakeholders were meeting at the time of filing this report.
    Another respondent alleged that the incident occurred at one of the tents at Muna and not Muzdalifa.
    The Saudi Civil Defence Directorate did not state the cause of the deaths and where the incident precisely occurred. However, it reported on Twitter that 4,000 personnel had been sent to the scene of stampede, along with more than 220 emergency and rescue units.
    It will be recalled that last Sunday, the Head of Nigerian delegation for this year’s Hajj and Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, urged pilgrims to accept the arrangement which the
    Saudi Authorities have put in place over ‘’the stoning of the devil’’ at Jamrat.
    Amirul Hajj Sanusi revealed that performing the stoning of the devil in batches and spreading the time for the Islamic rite to include the period of Zawal (sun rise) is necessary to protect the lives of pilgrims.
    The Emir noted that ‘’on many occasion, pilgrims have been killed at the stoning site from stampede arising out of thousands of pilgrims converging to do the throwing at the same time, among number of causes.’’
    Emir Sanusi II recalled that 266 pilgrims had died in 1994 while 98 others were injured at the
    stoning site that year. Ten years later, 251 pilgrims died in 2004 and in 2006, 346 had also lost their lives, he added.
    According to him, ‘’all these incidents happened at the Jamarat. The frequency and sheer enormity necessitated the following arrangement of the concerned authority, by performing the ritual in a way that will protect human life.’’
    The Emir argued that if lives will be protected by performing the ritual before sun rise, then one of the fundamental objectives of Sharia will be fulfilled at the level of absolute necessities.

  • 717 pilgrims die in hajj stampede

    717 pilgrims die in hajj stampede

    At least 717 pilgrims died and hundreds of others were injured on Thursday in a major stampede on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during the ongoing annual hajj pilgrimage.
    AFP reported that no fewer than 863 pilgrims were injured in the crush according to the Saudi civil defense directorate, which provided update on the death toll.
    Thursday’s crush happened in Mina, a large valley about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Mecca that has been the site of hajj stampedes in years past.
    Mina is where pilgrims carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone columns. It also houses more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the pilgrimage.
    Thursday’s tragedy struck during a morning surge of pilgrims at the intersection of streets 204 and 223 as the faithful were making their way toward a large structure overlooking the columns, according to the Saudi civil defense directorate.
    The multi-story structure, known as Jamarat Bridge, is designed to ease the pressure of the crowds and prevent pilgrims from being trampled.
    Ambulance sirens blared as rescue crews rushed the injured to nearby hospitals.
    More than 220 rescue vehicles and some 4,000 members of the emergency services were deployed soon after the stampede to try to ease the congestion and provide alternative exit routes, according to the directorate.

  • Another Immigration jobs stampede victim is buried

    Another Immigration jobs stampede victim is buried

    It was a poignant occasion marked by tears and weeping. The people of Kalaibiama Community in Opobo Nkoro Local government Area of Rivers State buried 26-year-old Brown Darlington, one of the victims of Nigerian Immigration Service stampede in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    He was one of five victims who died on that inglorious in the state. About 19 deaths were recorded across the country during the shambolic exercise.

    Brown, a secondary school certificate holder, was described by his the stepmother, Mrs Victoria Brown, as an intelligent gentleman who struggled for self-survival.

    His friends from Port Harcourt wept inconsolably as they accompanied his remains from the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH) mortuary, Port Harcourt to his hometown. It was their last respect for the young man whose life was cut short. His remains eventually left the mortuary by 8am and got to Uta-Ewa waterside by 12 pm where the youths of Kalaibiama received his corpse with tears and pains.

    At his family house, his bereaved mother Mrs. Grace Jaja slumped and became unconscious when she saw her son’s corpse. She was revived two hours later.

    She said her late son was born in May 1988; he was the first of two left children, regretting that he left Port Harcourt on the day of immigration recruitment exercise and did not return home as he was wont to do.

    “On that Friday, which is a day before the recruitment exercise he went out to buy white cloths and other materials for the recruitment. That night he set his phone on alarm to enable him wake up on time. Before he left the house he went on his knee asking God that even if it is 10 persons the immigration authority want for the recruitment his own name should be among. He did not eat that morning because there was no food except the one we ate last night. He told me to recharge his phone which I did. In our yard two women also went for the immigration recruitment.

    “When it was time to come back I did not see him, so I waited for one hour, I did not see him. The two neighbours that went for the same recruitment came back. When I ask them if they saw my son they said the crowd was much nobody could see each other. But my son was yet to come back. So I started calling his line, it was rigging but nobody was picking. Suddenly somebody picks and told me if the person I am calling is my son I should run to Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH). When I got there I search the emergency ward where people who sustain injuries and those unconscious were kept but I did not see my son. It was later they directed me to check the Hospital mortuary, when I got there I saw Darlington my son dead. “

    She said there is no amount of compensation that will bring her son to life and want the Federal government to take care of her family as her late son was their only hope. She said what happened to her son is like a dream as she is yet to believe that Darlington is dead. She regretted that Federal government with their partners could conduct shoddy recruitment.

    She said: “Look at my life, my son is dead because he made effort to be like others and to get something doing to take care of me and the young one. I have only two children Darlington and his brother now that my first son is dead what do they want me to do? The only thing I want Federal government to do is to take care of me and my family.”

    Some of the youths of the community who spoke to our reporters expressed dissatisfaction with the sloppy recruitment exercise and the inability of the immigration authority to send a representative during the burial of the victims.

    The youth leader of Kalaibiama Community, Comrade Tamunoipirinye Rogers Tolafari, said there will be war if at the end Federal government did not redeemed its promises to the victims’ family. He said their greatest annoyance is the inability of the immigration authority to send a representative for the funeral of their friend and brother.

    Addressing his follow youths at the funeral Comrade Tamunoipirinye said it is an act of wickedness for immigration authority to conduct a careless recruitment exercise that led to the death of youths of this country. He said there should be remorse on the side of the immigration.

    “We are not happy, but we have to take things the way we see it, the worst thing that will happen is to hear that the Federal government at the end of the day did not fulfil the promise they gave to the deceased’s family, it will be war. I trust Jonathan he will redeemed the promise.”

    On March 5, five victims were confirmed dead in Port Harcourt during the stampede. They include Grace Nwokaku Amah, 28, from Ubima Community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State; Kalu Sunday Okezie, 30, from Okon-aku Community in Ohafia, B Darlington and two others.

  • Tears, anger as victim of stampede is buried

    Tears, anger as victim of stampede is buried

    One of the five victims who died in Port Harcourt during the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) employment disaster, Sunday Okezie Kalu, was recently buried in Ohafia, Abia state. Precious Dikewoha, who witnessed the ceremony, reports.

    It was all tears, pains, sorrows, emotions and angers when the remains of a Micro Biologist, Mr Sunday Okezie Kalu, one of the victims of Port Harcourt National Immigration Service employment stampede, was brought from Port Harcourt to his home town in Okon-Aku Community, Ohafia Local Government of Abia State for burial, last weekend. The ceremony marked the end of the young man’s five fruitless years search for a job.

    His corpse left the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH), Port Harcourt by 6am on that fateful Saturday and was received by his grieving parents, relatives and youths of Okon-Aku Community in Ohafia by 12pm.

    The white ambulance carrying the remains of late Sunday was escorted to his home town by his weeping friends from Port Harcourt, who later handed the corpse over to the youths of Ohafia who then took it round the community in a final rite.

    When his body finally got to his family’s house, his 48-year-old mother Mrs Justina Okezie Kalu, who collapsed and was later hospitalized for days when she heard the news of her son’s death, collapsed again and almost gave up the ghost.

    His father took in the event with a stoic equanimity and speechlessly watched his son’s corpse being carried out from the ambulance. The only sign of the pains he felt was his two trembling leg. He nodded his head intermittently as if willing his body to come to terms with the pains that flowed from his broken heart.

    The family and grieving community expressed their annoyance with the NIS by refusing the reading of a condolence message sent by Rivers State command of NIS. The message, which was signed by the Comptroller General was rejected by the community and the relatives of the deceased. The youths of the community said it was unnecessary as it would not bring back their kinsman.

    The mourners struggled with sorrow as they commenced the burial of a promising youth who they had touted as one of the futures of the community. Their anger became even more intense when they realised that the condolence letter was not accompanied by any official of the NIS.

    The grieving mother said she warned her son not to attend the recruitment exercise, but she gave in when he explained that he had to get a job to secure his future.

    Speaking on behalf of the family, Mr. Kalu, the father of the decease, a security guard with Abia State Primary School Board, said nobody should blame his son. Rather, he said the blame lies squarely with the organisers of the shoddy recruitment exercise for playing politics with human lives. He said the handling of the exercise showed clearly the organisers’ disregard for young Nigerians who responded to their requests.

    Kalu, 55, said: ‘’Some persons are saying he shouldn’t have apply for the job but what do they want him do. As a graduate I think his decision to apply for the immigration job was in the best interest of the family. My son was an academic hero from primary to tertiary education. He studied Micro Biology at Ebonyi State University and graduated in 2008, he served this great country during his one year compulsory National Youths Service Scheme (NYSC) and did his primary assignment at Baptist Grammar School, Otu-Itesiwaju Local Government of Oyo State.

    “The painful part of the death of my son is that I suffered as security man to train him from primary school to university level and now that I am anxiously waiting the day I will eat the fruit of my labour everything has turned upside down. It is unfortunate that I am to bury my son instead of the other way round. My son’s death has made me lose hope in anything that has to do with Federal Government. I don’t believe the Federal Government anymore even as they said they will compensate the deceased family with jobs, as for me, it is just a story I don’t believe them.”

    Narrating how the family received the news of Sunday’s death, Mrs. Kalu, 48, said the last time she saw her late son was on Friday evening, a day before the evil recruitment exercise.

    “He visited me in Port Harcourt to tell me that he was going to be part of the immigration job recruitment. But my spirit did not accept such movement so I told him to forget about the recruitment. But he said he was going to be fine. He also made me to understand that he was not comfortable living as graduate without job.”

    She added that when she received a call telling her that her son was among those who died at Eleekahia Stadium’s stampede, she became comatose.

    “Somebody told me on phone that my son was among of those who died, that was the only thing I could remember, because I was unconscious and hospitalized for days. Those who organize this recruitment are wicked and heartless.”

    Elders, chiefs and youths of the community wept uncontrollably as lambasted the Federal government’s insensitivity in setting up a committee for fresh recruitment.

    They argued that setting up a new committee for fresh recruitment when victims’ families are yet to bury their loved ones is unnecessary. They also said it is disrespectful to young and vibrant youths who lost their lives in the cause of shoddy recruitment exercise organised by Nigeria Immigration Service.

    “Nobody is stopping the Federal government from setting up a new committee to organise a fresh recruitment. What my people are saying is that it is bad to do that now when those who died on the last recruitment exercise are yet to be buried. We will protest if they go ahead to do that,” Chief Joseph Madueme said.

    Chief Lucky Chukwuma, another elderly man in the community, said: “The Federal government is not serious, look, we don’t expect any recruitment now until after one year. This is to respect those applicants who sacrifice their lives because of this job. Any further recruitment at this moment is tantamount to betrayal.”

     

  • NLC condemns NIS recruitment protcols, calls for investigation

    NLC condemns NIS recruitment protcols, calls for investigation

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday condemned the recruitment protocols adopted by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Saturday in which many people died in parts of the country.

    This is contained in a statement signed by NLC President, Mr. Abdulwahed Omar, in Abuja on Monday.

    He said that the congress was saddened and shocked to learn of the avoidable death of unemployed youths during the exercise.

    “It is grossly unfair for the Immigration service to have invited thousands of our youths to physically present themselves to compete to fill a miserly four thousand vacancies.

    “Nothing but crass opportunism can explain this heartless scam.

    “A more rational and discerning recruitment process could easily have reduced the numbers by insisting on raising minimum standards.

    “The explanation by the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, that 520,000 applicants were invited for 4,556 spaces and that the applicants died in a stampede due to impatient and non-adherence to laid down orderly procedure, is rather weak and untenable.’’

    Omar noted that to have invited so much applicants for such few spaces, in all sense of administration, was unacceptable.

    He called on the Federal Government to to investigate the NIS, query the methods it adopted and the discretion it exercised in conducting the programme.

    “It is also important to remind government of the danger that unemployment, particularly unemployment of qualified youths, represents.

    “We therefore call on government to tackle unemployment with increased commitment, and appropriately sanction those who have had a hand in causing these scandalous deaths.

    In another development, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has described the stampede at the recruitment as a national disaster.

    It called for an immediate investigation into the death of the young Nigerians

  • APC: Job stampede deaths consequence of PDP’s misrule

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it is greatly distressed at the deaths of 19 job seekers at the venues of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) job test on Saturday, calling it a direct consequence of 15 years of misrule by the PDP-led Federal Government.

    In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, must bear direct responsibility for the needless deaths by immediately stepping down from his post, if he has any honour left, or be fired.

    It said 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 the 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 were 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.