President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of Saturday’s recruitment test conducted by the Nigeria Immigration Service nationwide, which resulted in the death of about 20 job applicants as a result of stampede.
Briefing State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Jonathan, the Minister of Information, Labran Maku, said the session was devoted entirely to grieving with the families of the deceased.
The President, Maku said, has directed that a new recruitment exercise be conducted by a special committee to be headed by the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission.
In the same vein, three young family members of the deceased applicants, one of whom must be a woman, will enjoy automatic employment as well as all those who were injured during the last exercise.
Maku said: “The President also took certain measures, which he announced to the Federal Executive Council.
“The first is that the Immigration exercise has been completely cancelled and he has directed that a new exercise will be conducted by a special committee under the chairmanship of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission to conduct the recruitment exercise to fill the vacancies of the Nigerian Immigration Service.
“Other members of the committee as announced by the President are the Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Service, representatives of the Inspector General of Police, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Comptroller General of Prisons Service, Director General of State Security Service and the Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission.
“This committee will proceed to conduct the exercise to fill the vacancies in the Nigerian Immigration Service. The President also directed that for the families of those who lost their dear ones, three spaces be provided for three young people, one of which must be a woman, in the new recruitment exercise.
“Also, all those who were injured in the course of the exercise across the country will be given automatic recruitment into the service.”
The Information Minister spoke further on the proceedings at the Council: “The FEC noted with grief and deep regrets the tragic loss of young Nigerians who died in different centres across the country in the ill-fated Nigerian Immigration Recruitment Exercise.
“The FEC in sending condolences to the families of the deceased and also in sending special wishes to those who are injured and still undergoing treatment in hospitals in parts of the country, expressed total regrets that this tragedy took place at all.
“Council members were full of grief when the issue was discussed at the FEC. We expressed our condolences to the President and Vice President and we indeed reassured Nigerians that all of us who have the privilege of serving this country at this time, are feeling the pains with the families of our young ones who lost their lives.
“We are parents and we know what this means to those who have had the opportunity to train their children and are waiting for the opportunity for these children to now take their place and help their families, only to lose them under this very difficult circumstances that took place on Saturday.
“We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that this kind of tragedy does not repeat itself in this country.
“The President has also directed that as soon as he returns from his trip abroad, he will meet the families of the deceased to express his personal condolences to them over the sad tragedy that took place on Saturday.
“He instructed all MDAs never to embark on exercise of this nature in recruiting people into the public service because what happened could have been avoided. So, Mr. President directed that no one outside the armed forces and the police, who usually recruit people through exercise, that no other MDA is allowed to embark on this kind of exercise that we witnessed on Saturday.
“Council noted that it is regrettable that this took place at a time that every effort was being made by government to increase spaces available for employment. For example last year, we were able to get 1.6 million employed in the various sectors of the economy and the public service. However, this incident that took place is so painful and we will not want to see in this country young job seekers losing their lives in the process of seeking for job after school training.
“We assure the nation today that every step will be taken to look into the various lapses in recruitment exercises into the public service to ensure that all those who are qualified get access to employment without going through this kind of experience.”
Our earlier story: The Federal Government has ordered the cancellation of the tragic test for enlistment into the Nigeria Immigration Service.
It has also ordered that a fresh one be conducted but this time it is to be supervised by the Federal Civil Service Commission.
These decisions, alongside another that offers employment to the relatives of the over 20 dead victims and those injured during the exercise on Saturday, were taken at the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.
The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has endorsed the positions of the FEC on the NIS examination.
The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who briefed State House correspondents, said the fresh examination panel will be made up of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission; the Comptroller-General of NIS, David Parradang; as well as representatives of the Inspector-General of Police; and the heads of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Prisons Service, Department of State Security and the Federal Road Safety Commission.