Immigration recruitment tragedy: CSNAC asks EFCC to investigate recruitment saga

CSNAC said it was criminal for NIS to allow over 520,000 applications for 4,556 available job opportunities.

A civil society group, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, on Monday asked for the investigation and proper prosecution of individuals responsible for the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, recruitment tragedy by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The Chairman of the group, Olanrewaju Suraju, in a request to the EFCC boss, Ibrahim Larmode, alleged that the exercise was designed to fraudulently generate illicit money for NIS Comptroller General, David
Parradang, his cronies and a criminal consultancy firm.

On Saturday, stampedes at various centres of the NIS recruitment exercise across the country led to the death of at least 18 job seekers, including pregnant women.

In Abuja, seven job applicants lost their lives during at the overcrowded 60,000 capacity Abuja National Stadium.

An estimate showed that NIS made over half a billion naira from the exercise, although it claimed the money was for the consultancy firm it hired for the recruitment exercise.

Also, on Monday, amidst allegation of complicity in the recruitment saga, Helen Mark, the wife of Senate President David Mark, denied that she had any link with the consultants that organized the recruitment exercise.

The Federal Government has offered automatic employment to three members each of families of the dead victims. The government also offered applicants who got injured, during the exercise, automatic
employments.

Mr. Suraju said that the N1 000 application fee the applicants were made to pay in various participating banks is a clear case of 419.

Section 419 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Vol. 4 LFN, 2004 defines 419 as; of obtaining goods by false pretences and obtaining credit by false pretences or other fraud.

He also alleged that it was criminal for NIS to allow over 520,000 applications for 4,556 available job opportunities in a carefully elongated period of application for its financial gain.

“Sir, this is a clear case of 419 in disguise. When an agency prospecting for a little over 4,000 jobs consciously sold application forms to over 500,000 deprived, impoverished and dehumanized
unemployed Nigerians, there can never be a worst act of Advance Fee Fraud,” Mr. Suraju said in the petition.

He asked that the commission under the Advance Fee Fraud Act investigates, retrieves money realised from the sale of application forms and subsequently prosecute all those connected to the scam that led to the death of about 20 applicants.

“CSNAC is therefore inviting your Commission, under the Advance Fee Fraud Act, and other relevant laws of the federation, to commence immediate investigation, retrieval of the over five hundred million Naira realised from the scam and, prosecution of all those connected with the undeserved massacre of Nigeria’s future leaders with immediate effect,” he said.