2014 Nigeria Immigration Recruitment Tragedy

The 2014 Nigeria Immigration Recruitment Tragedy occurred on Saturday March 15, 2014, when 6.5 million people^[1] in all 37 states of Nigeria (including the FCT) stormed various recruitment centers in the country for the 4000 vacant positions in the Nigeria Immigration Service. At least 16 job seekers were confirmed dead, and several scores of people were injured. The major causes of death was due to overcrowding, stampede, exhaustion, and impatience of the applicants.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Background

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, at least 23.9% of Nigerians are currently unemployed (about 40 million). This implies that it would be logical to expect a large turn-up at any job opening.^[8] All applicants for the exercise paid 1000 Naira (about $6) before they could complete their registration for the test. They were also mandated to provide a medical report before being considered eligible for the exercise. Since the Nigeria Immigration Service is a Paramilitary agency, they were instructed to put on white sporting attires for fitness training and easy identification. The Ministry of Interior and the Immigration Ministry delegated the exercise to a consultancy firm citing transparency and accountability as reasons for this step.^[9][10][11]

Reactions

On March 16, 2014, the Minister for Interior Comrade Abba Moro explained in an interview that the applicant's impatience and failure to follow instructions were the cause of the tragedy. The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) called for Moro's prosecution.^[12] Moro appeared before a Senate Committee on interior for two days of public hearings. On March 27, he accepted responsibility for the events and expressed his grief. He said he was saddened that his effort to put an end to nepotism and favoritism in the recruitment process had turned out like this.^[13][14] President Goodluck Jonathan ordered automatic employment for affected families. He also ordered immediate return of all the funds collected from the applicants. He went further to say that there would be a new recruitment exercise and the previous one would be cancelled.^[15][16]

References