Seven Dead as Job-Seekers Stampede at Nigerian Stadium ABUJA, Nigeria - At least seven people were killed and dozens injured in Nigeria´s capital after thousands of panicked job-seekers stampeded during a government recruitment drive in the national stadium on Saturday. Some of the applicants at the Abuja national stadium. Photo: Courtesy Duru Collins Survivors told AFP that thousands had gathered to apply for jobs with the immigration department in the Abuja stadium. One witness said the stampede broke out as applicants surged towards a central stage. They said only one entrance to the 60,000-capacity stadium was open. It wasn´t clear how many people were inside at the time of the crush. The immigration service was having a recruitment exercise at the stadium ... there was a stampede and they brought the victims to the national hospital, said hospital spokesman Tayo Haastrup. No official casualty list was given, but an AFP journalist on the scene counted seven dead and dozens injured. Many injured people could not be admitted to hospital due to lack of capacity. Those with stable injuries will be sent to other hospitals so that we can deal with the numerous injured that continue to arrive, said Haastrup. I cannot even imagine the number of people that stamped on me, said survivor Rosemary Ogida. I just remember being picked up by three men. The young woman, who had regained consciousness at the hospital but could barely move her left leg, told AFP she was desperate after having lost the original of her university diploma in the stampede. Unfortunately, the hospital management was not given any early warning about the scale of the situation at the stadium, he added. Also, another stampede incident marred the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment in Rivers State, south-south Nigeria. Some 25, 000 applicants were scheduled to participate in the NIS job recruitment interview holding at the 16,000 capacity Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt. It was learnt that several NIS job applicants were seriously wounded, while some lost their certificates in the melee. The Public Relations Officer of NIS in Rivers, Mr Abang Bisong, who confirmed the incident in Port Harcourt on Saturday, said the stampede was caused when about 20, 000 candidates forced their way into the stadium. “During the stampede, some candidates fell and were trampled upon by others, while some became unconscious due to the incident. The victims have been taken to the Military Hospital for rehabilitation and treatment. At the moment, we have not received any information on their present condition,” Bisong said. Bisong, a Superintendent of Immigration, said that NIS had advertised positions for university graduates, diploma holders and Senior Secondary School Certificate holders. An eyewitness and victim, Mr Jasper Saturday, corroborated Bisong’s account but commended security agents in the manner they handled the crowd. Saturday, who claimed to have lost his original certificates, said that gunshots released by security agents to disperse the crowd averted a tragedy which could have occurred. The immigration officers were trying to screen candidates from the stadium gate and in the process some candidates became impatient and started pushing us from the back. Those of us who were in the front fell to the ground because others stepped on us and as a result, some candidates lost consciousness. If not for the gunshots released to the air by security agents to scare the candidates pushing us from behind, there would have been several casualties, Saturday said. However, in Imo State, Gov. Rochas Okorocha assured the job seekers that he would ensure that they were not shortchanged in the recruitment. Okorocha gave the assurance in Owerri on Saturday at Dan Anyiam Stadium where thousands of applicants gathered for the aptitude test for employment in NIS. He said he would ensure that the employment quota for Imo was filled by indigenes of the state. The governor said that not all the applicants would be successful and advised them to also apply for jobs in the “Imo Youths Must Work program” of the state government. No fewer than 10 applicants, including three expectant mothers, fainted while waiting for the commencement of the test. Some of the applicants expressed disappointment over the manner the exercise was organised. An applicant, Nwakuche Isigu, said he left his village in Oguta Local Government Area by 6a.m. to ensure that he arrived early at the venue. Another applicant, Onyemobi Anyanwu, called on the Federal Government to create more jobs for the youth. In Kebbi, 5,000 applicants assembled at Halliru Abdu Stadium, where officials had tough time controlling the applicants. The venue witnessed a boom in economic activities as food and snacks vendors as well as sachet water sellers enjoyed good patronage. The police, Federal Road Safety Cops and National Security and Civil Defence Corps personnel assisted in the maintenance of order at the venue. The recruitment drive was being held at several stadiums around the country on Saturday. The sheer size of the crowds was a testament to the vast numbers of unemployed in Nigeria, most of whose 170 million citizens live on less than two dollars a day, while the country lags behind in key development indicators such as health. Unemployment is a particular challenge, with an estimated 37.5 percent of under-25s out of work, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Already Africas top oil producer, Nigeria is predicted to soon replace South Africa as the continents biggest economy, but recognition is growing that the landmark will be largely symbolic and do little to address major problems. On paper, the future looks bright for Nigeria: the International Monetary Fund has forecast 7.4 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, up from an estimated 6.2 percent last year. But the healthy growth figures reflect the countrys unhealthy dependence on the oil sector, which provides minimal employment in Africas most populous nation. We are growing but not creating enough jobs. That is a very big challenge, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told business leaders in December. The rate of growth that we have is good but could be better. We need to grow fa
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 17:48:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015