Tuesday, March 18, 2014 Jonathan summons Moro, Paradang over recruitment tragedy • Lawmakers, others want minister sacked • SERAP petitions UN, seeks compensation AS the outrage over last Saturdays Immigration recruitment tragedy continued, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday summoned the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro and the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), David Paradang, over the exercise. Meanwhile, the Lagos State House of Assembly has called for sack of Moro and prosecution of all officials involved in the avoidable incident. Besides, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, requesting him to refer the unlawful deaths and inhuman and degrading treatment of job-seekers by the Nigerian government to appropriate UN human rights bodies. In a related development, two social cultural youths organisations, Idoma Youths Progressive Movement and Northern Youths Assembly of Nigeria, have accused Abba Moro of lack of dedication and incompetence for causing the stampede. The two officials were invited to the Presidential Villa to brief Jonathan on how the exercise turned tragic. The meeting lasted for close to one and a half hours inside the Presidents office, with both of them keeping sealed lips over the outcome of their discussion with the President. About 20 applicants were said to have died and many others injured in the stampede that trailed the recruitment exercise. They refused to talk with journalists after their encounter with the President. When the minister emerged from the Presidents office, he was shielded by the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Brig.-Gen. Jones Arogbofa (rtd), who headed straight into his office. As they were coming, Moro gave a sign that he would not speak. He was later joined in the COSs office by Paradang. While the House also flayed the government for such make-believe recruitment fair, it also demanded that families of the victims should be compensated accordingly. The House, at its plenary yesterday, unanimously condemned the incident, especially the comment credited to the Minister of Interior that the applicants were impatient, which accounted for the deaths. Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Lola Akande, who brought the issue under Matters of Urgent Public Importance, noted that the primary responsibility of the government is welfare and security of the populace, but the incident of last weekend had shown the insensitivity of the Federal Government to the plight of her people. She said a situation where 19 Immigration job-seekers were trampled to death, some of them pregnant women, would have got the government and the Immigration Service sued for manslaughter in more civilised setting. Moving the motion, Akande called on the National Assembly to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the incident and immediate resignation and prosecution of the Interior Minister. She also called for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to accommodate devolution of power and more responsibilities to the states and councils. In the same vein, former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), yesterday joined in the call for the sack of Moro and Paradang following last Saturdays multiple deaths. Akeredolu in a statement entitled The Recruitment Tragedy and the Festering Sore of a Country at Crossroad made available to reporters in Ibadan also called for a thorough investigation with a view to unmasking the characters behind this serial fraud. The tragic import of this shame of a country, awash with petro-dollars, should not be lost on genuine patriots. Nigerians are getting accustomed to disturbing news of gory details. Hardly will a day pass without our sensibilities being assailed with stories bordering on the horrendous crimes perpetrated by criminal elements christened insurgents by the media. In a statement by SERAPs Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, he stated: We believe this is important to achieve international accountability of Nigeria for the violations of the human rights of the job-seekers. By doing this, the Secretary-General will be upholding the values and moral authority of the United Nations and sending a powerful message that the UN will not tolerate fragrant violations of human rights of Nigerians. In the petition dated March 17, 2014, the organisation said that millions of Nigerian children and university graduates continue to be denied the right to work unfairly. Yet, work is important for personal development as well as for social and economic inclusion. The unlawful deaths and inhuman and degrading treatment of the job-seekers constitute violations of their rights to life, dignity and work. The case also shows the growing level of economic injustice caused by pervasive corruption and lack of opportunities for Nigerian children to enjoy the right to employment and to gain a living by work, as guaranteed by international and regional human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party, the organisation said. According to the group, the Nigerian government in violation of international law has failed and/or neglected to establish conditions for full employment of Nigerian children and university graduates. This situation is not natural and not beyond the control of the government but is caused by high level official corruption, mismanagement and contempt for the rights of the citizens. SERAP believes that access to a first job constitutes an opportunity for economic self-reliance and in many cases a means to escape poverty. Young persons, particularly young women, generally have great difficulties in finding initial employment, the group added. The group also cited Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the right to work, to free choice of employment, to protection against unemployment, and to an existence worthy of human dignity. The right to work is essential for realising other human rights and forms an inseparable and inherent part of human dignity. The group also urged Ki-Moon to call on the government to urgently adopt legislative, budgetary, administrative and other measures to promote and support access to employment opportunities for young persons, in particular young women and persons with disabilities. All victims and their families should receive adequate reparation, which may take the form of restitution, compensation, satisfaction or a guarantee of non-repetition. The group also said that Ban Ki-Moon is empowered by Rule 22 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its third session (1989) to inform the members of the committee questions and violations of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which is within the mandate of the committee. The groups in a statement by its President, Igoche Matthew and Speaker, Obande Gideon respectively, and made available to The Guardian yesterday, said rather than blame the minister, it should be channelled to the Controller-General of NIS for poor planning and execution of the recruitment exercise. While condoling with the affected families, the groups further called on the Federal Government to quickly arrange a palliative for the affected families.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 11:55:12 +0000
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