u Nigerian Blogger Nigerias Most Trending News Stand IMMIGRATION RECRUITMENT TEST: FOUR PREGNANT WOMEN, 15 OTHERS DIE IN ABUJA, MINNA, BENIN, PH Four pregnant women and 15 other unidentified persons allegedly died yesterday in Abuja, Minna, Port Harcourt and Benin during a recruitment test organised by the Nigerian Immigration Service to fill vacant positions in the federal agency. The test, which held nationwide, attracted thousands of applicants to the main bowl of the National Stadium, Abuja. Two of the pregnant women succumbed under the pressure of the large crowd that besieged the stadium early on Saturday. Hundreds of others fainted and were immediately rushed to different hospitals by security operatives who were overwhelmed by the surging crowd of unemployed youths. Many of the victims were rushed to the National Hospital, Abuja, even as 13 of them were allegedlly confirmed dead on arrival, sources told New Telegraph on Sunday. Scores were taken to the hospital and other medical facilities with varying degrees of injury. Eyewitnesses said the stampede began at about 9.25 am when the thousands of applicants, who had arrived the stadium as early as 4.30am for the 7am test, tried to force their way through the locked gates. As the crowd kept surging, there was nobody to open the gates. There was also no official of the NIS on hand to give directives on the modalities for the exercise. Many desperate applicants soon began to scale the stadium’s metal fence. By the time the security operatives arrived and opened one of the gates to begin the screening of applicants, the surge increased. The gates were suddenly flung open after a pregnant woman slumped, causing a stampede. In the process, a number of persons were crushed. Eventually, the 60,000 capacity Abuja Stadium was overwhelmed by the unprecedented crowd which occupied every inch of the facility just as tens of hundreds more were waiting helplessly outside the stadium as the confusion raged. Some lucky ones on sensing danger returned home just as the scenario cast serious doubts on the screening conducted by NIS on the applications from which it allegedly made over N6 billion. In Abuja alone, 68,000 were supposed to have sat for the test but thousands turned up for the exercise. The development also rubbished claims by the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, who had last Thursday given the assurance that his ministry had concluded arrangements for a smooth exercise. Mobile phones, bags, shoes, certificates and other personal effects littered the entrance to the stadium. A survivor, who gave his name as Eke O. Eke, told journalists that he was one of those pushed to the ground in the stampede. “I am very disappointed that the NIS and the Ministry of Interior could have made this shabby arrangement. It is shocking to see that people left their homes to look for jobs only to return as dead bodies. “I was hearing the cracking of human bones, I only managed to escape. We came here early but they refused to open the gates. They were aware of the number of people coming for this exercise in Abuja. But look at the number of security personnel here, very few. There is no medical arrangement, what I can see here is just one ambulance,” he said. The chaotic situation also forced the applicants outside the gates to block Airport Road and this made the police to fire tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. However, efforts of the Immigration officials to begin the exercise inside the stadium caused more confusion as plans to separate graduates from those with OND and Senior School Certificate created more chaos. Agence France Presse quotes National Hospital spokesman, Tayo Haastrup, as saying, “The immigration (service) was having a recruitment exercise at the stadium … there was a stampede and they brought the victims to the National Hospital. No official casualty list was given, but an AFP journalist counted seven corpses. Three die in Minna Meanwhile, no fewer than three persons out of the 11,000 candidates who turned up at Women Day Secondary School, Minna, Niger State for the test were feared dead as security agencies fired teargas at anxious applicants. New Telegraph on Sunday learnt that the incident occurred during accreditation for candidates. The situation soon got out of the control of immigration personnel as they were unable to control the crowd. As security agents fired tear gas canisters at the crowd, seven persons collapsed and were rushed to the hospital while three other persons allegedly died on the spot. Security sources told our correspondent that Immigration service personnel were overwhelmed by the crowd that stretched over two kilometres from the venue of the test adjacent the Federal Secretariat, Minna. It was learnt that the Immigration command in Minna with a chief examiner from the headquarters of the service were calling the names of the candidates based on the serial numbers of their application forms but the candidates became apprehensive as the queues were not moving as anticipated. When our correspondent visited Minna General Hospital where the victims were rushed to, one of the victims was in a critical condition even as the hospital management said that based on security instructions they would not allow anybody to go near where the injured persons were admitted. A senior hospital official, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, stated that the bodies of those who died had been deposited in the mortuary. When contacted, the Comptroller of Immigration Service Niger State Command, Ezekiel S. Kaura, confirmed that 11,000 candidates sat for the recruitment examination in Minna centre. He stated that five candidates collapsed as a result of the stamped and were rushed to the hospital. Four feared dead in Port Harcourt Four persons, including a pregnant woman, died yesterday at the NIS enlistment exercise at the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The tragedy occurred when a capacity crowd of over 40, 000 applicants that were invited for the interview and who had gathered at the 16,000 capacity Liberation Stadium, venue of the exercise, were struggling to enter inside the facility. Each applicant had paid the sum of N1,000 for the recruitment form in 2013. But some security experts and other participants at the exercise blamed immigration officials for poor organisation and crowd management even as they said the tragedy was a sad reminder of the May 2011 tragedy at the handing of flags to South-South Peoples Democratic party governorship candidates at the same stadium during which 13 persons died. Although some of the applicants began arriving at the stadium at about 5am, they were not allowed into the main bowl by security operatives. The two gates into the stadium were also locked. Pandemonium broke out at about 10am when the immigration authorities opened the second gate to begin the screening of applicants. Some of the agitated applicants who were worried that they may not be allowed to enter the stadium began to push forward in a desperate bid to gain entry. As the crowd continued to surge forward, those in front who were still being screened by immigration officers fell to the ground while those behind them fell upon them. Amid the screaming and wailing, some security agents in the stadium shot into the air to disperse the agitated applicants. In the ensuing melee, scores of people collapsed. Military emergency personnel swiftly provided first aid service and revived some persons, Others in a critical condition were rushed to the hospital for intensive care in an army ambulance vehicle with registration number NA 307 EOI and two police operational Toyota Hilux vehicles. Many applicants lost their certificates in the confusion. Documents such as National Youth Service Corps discharge certificates, passport photographs, photocopies of resumes and degress littered the second gate where the melee broke out. However, the spokesman for the command, Mr. Bisong Abang, denied that four persons died in the stampede. He insisted that all those who sustained injuries where attended to by the paramedics at the stadium while others were taken to the hospital for further treatment. Abang explained that the immigration service expected about 20,000 applicants but that those who turned up were more than 40,000 applicants. The screening was stopped halfway because of the tragedy while those who sat for the test did so in the rain. Four die in Benin It was a sad end for four persons who were among the 28, 000 applicants from Benin zone in Edo State during the exercise. The test took place in the main bowl of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin. Among the dead were a pregnant mother, a nursing mother who gave birth three days ago and two others. The victims died following a stampede and apparent delay by officials of the immigration service to conduct the test on time inside the 10,000-capacity stadium. Three of the applicants were rushed to the hospital when it was evident that attempts to revive them at the stadium failed but they died later. More than 25 of the applicants who collapsed due to stampede were rushed to the Central Hospital, Benin while others were treated for injuries. Investigations revealed that 28, 000 applicants of various categories drawn from school certificate holders, National Certificate of Education, Bachelor’s degree and Higher National Diploma as well as those of them with Masters Degree holders took the test which began at 4pm. The applicants arrived the venue of the recruitment test as early as 6:15 am yesterday but screening did not start till 2:15pm before the commencement of the 35-minute test for the various categories. The situation was made worse by the intense heat. Most of the applicants already as at 2:45pm were looking tired and dirty as thousands of them struggled for space. More worrisome was the large number of security personnel from the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, armed policemen and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps. The immigration officials conducting the screening had lost control of the crowd when soldiers and other security agents moved in to check the situation. Some of them landed on the ground in the process. An official of the FRSC who did not want to mention his name in print said that “only person died during the stampede.” The fourth victim who was among the last batch of the applicants that participated in the test collapsed and died at about 4:48pm. The victim was later taken off the exam venue in a FRSC ambulance to an undisclosed hospital but the real identity could not be established as at press-time. One of the applicants who gave his name as Moses said he and others arrived the venue of the examination at about 6:30am. He said the test started at 4pm when the officials were asked to handle the test. New Telegraph on Sunday reporter, who was at the venue, discovered that all the applicants sat on the field while others huddled in their hundreds on the VIP side of the stadium to write the 35-minute test. Speaking on the arrangements, the Deputy Comptroller of Immigration in charge of Border Patrols (ECOWAS/ African Affairs), Mr. Chibueze John Adike, stated that 28,000 applicants were earmarked for the test. The deputy comptroller added, “You are here now, you saw what happened; it is not easy to organise this crowd but come what may these people (security officers) are the ones helping us to organise the crowd and the applicants themselves understand the situation.” The situation led to a gridlock in some parts of the state capital. Two slump in Osun Recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration service in Osun State nearly claimed lives yesterday as two applicants slumped after waited endlessly for many hours in the sun. The prompt intervention of the Nigeria Red Cross at St. Charles Grammar School, Osogbo, venue of the exercise, saved the situation. Speaking with New Telegraph on Sunday, one of the participants who identified himself as Temilade Adesanya described the arrangement of the exercise as ‘shoddy’. He said the exercise that supposed to start by 8am did not begin until 3pm. There was traffic on the route as people and vehicles could not move freely. But security agents worked hard to control the traffic. PDP calls for investigation The Peoples Democratic Party has said it is extremely grieved by the death of young Nigerians during the stampede at different centres. The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, yesterday said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the untimely death of the young citizens who were at the exercise not only to secure jobs but to be allowed the opportunity to contribute towards the development of the nation.” The party said it was “unfortunate and disheartening that the victims paid the supreme price while trying to be more useful to the nation.” While commiserating with the families of the deceased, the ruling party prayed for the speedy recovery of the wounded and charged the Ministry of Interior and all relevant agencies of government to immediately swing into action to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the stampede. The PDP also charged all government agencies and parastatals, as well as all its elected and appointed officials at all levels to redouble their efforts at curbing unemployment in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda and the PDP manifesto.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 06:39:07 +0000
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