News & Photos: Four pregnant women, 15 others die at Immigration recruitment in Nigeria

A recruitment drive by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) yesterday Sat.Mar.15 ended in death, tears and sorrow for many at most of the centres across the country.
In all 19 people died: three pregnant women in Benin, eight applicants made up of six women and two men in Abuja, three in Minna and five in Port Harcourt including a pregnant woman. #Good Lord, how pathetic!!!
Dozens of others were injured in stampedes as the applicants struggled to position themselves at the recruitment centres.
The ruling PDP last night expressed sympathies with the families of the dead.
Those in Calabar were flogged by security men brought in to control the sea of heads that turned up for the aptitude test.

The situation at the National Stadium, Abuja which served as the Federal Capital Territory centre was particularly rowdy.
About 70,000 turned up for the test.
About 50 of them including pregnant women were injured in the stampede that ensued as the applicants tried to gain entry into the main bowl of the stadium through only one point.
The injured were rushed to the National Hospital in the city for treatment.
They accused officials of poor handling of the situation.
An applicant, Joel Omo, said of his experience: “I arrived this venue by exactly 5am and met a sea of other applicants already waiting for the officials to open the entrance gate. We waited until around 9am when the officials started trickling in.
“Instead of them to throw the whole gates open, they only managed to open one of them. But, with everybody eager to enter first, there was stampede and many found themselves on the ground. Others who were being pushed by those behind trampled on those on the ground.”
Doctors at the National Stadium battled for much of the day to save the lives of the injured.

At the Accident and Emergency section of the National Hospital, there are more than 19 casualties either lying on the bed or lying critically unconscious on the floor waiting for the doctors battling to attend to them.
Another applicant, Mrs. Aroniya Abigail, said she was resuscitated at the hospital.
But the mother of two grieved that she was yet to find her brother who was also at the recruitment ground.
“I will say to God be the glory that I’m alive to tell the story. As I talk to you now, my brother is still missing. We came together to the stadium but I have not seen him after the stampede. I have tried his number repeatedly but it was not going. I still have his credentials with me now but I cannot reach him,” she said.
Many of the applicants lost their credentials while others had their dresses torn during the stampede.
The three pregnant women who died at the Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin centre were said to have died while the recruitment was in progress.
Trouble started at about 10am, when officials in charge of the screening lost control of the crowd prompting the soldiers on guard to start shooting sporadically into the air.
The over 28,000 applicants who had gathered in the stadium panicked and started scampering for safety.
The result was a stampede.
The screening started at about 2pm by which time some of the applicants had had enough and left for home in annoyance.

In Port Harcourt, authorities of the Rivers government-owned Braithwaite Memorial Hospital confirmed that five candidates including a pregnant woman died during a stampede at the city’s recruitment centre.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that more than 20,000 candidates came for the test.
A competent source at the hospital, told NAN that 12 candidates were brought to the hospital after the stampede.
“I can confirm to you that four have died, four others are in critical condition while four were treated and discharged,’’ the source said.
The source, who pleaded for anonymity, said a pregnant woman was among the dead.
Three of the 11,000 applicants at the Minna centre also died during a similar stampede triggered by the accreditation of the applicants.
The large number of the applicants were said to have overwhelmed the officials assigned to conduct the exercise.
One of the officials reportedly fired a canister of tear gas apparently to control the crowd but ended up triggering a stampede.
One of the victims that was rushed to Minna General Hospital was in a critical condition while three other injured victims were said to be stable.
The Niger State Commissioner for Health, Dr Ibrahim Sule, said only two of the applicants died. According to him, “one female was reported dead on arrival at the hospital and the other male applicant died at Minna General Hospital.
He also said that four other males were equally treated and discharged, while seven other female applicants are currently receiving treatment for their injuries at the hospital.
The State Controller of Immigration Service, Ezekiel S. Kaura, confirmed that 11,000 candidates sat for the recruitment examination in Minna centre but said that five collapsed as a result of stampede and were rushed to the hospital.
Seven applicants were injured at the Kano centre. Two of the injured were women.
The applicants were struggling to enter the Indoor Sports Hall of Sani Abacha Stadium when a stampede ensued.

In Calabar, soldiers, and personnel of the Immigration Service and the Civil Defence flogged applicants at the Federal Government Girls College venue of the recruitment for allegedly being rowdy.
One the job seekers who gave his name as Joe told our reporter he was in serious pain after receiving lashes from one of the security men.
His words: “my brother, look at me: a Master’s degree holder. I was flogged because I’m looking for work. I cannot remember the last time I was flogged and looking for a job is the last place I expected such a thing would be done. It is so painful.”
The exam did not start until 4pm.
Many of the applicants even had no desk or chair to write the exam had to sit on the school sport field to do so.
About 5,000 candidates turned out for the test in Gombe.
The applicants were joined by those from Borno State because of the insecurity in the state.
Five women fainted   at the  Mudasiru Lawal Stadium, Abeokuta   recruitment centre.
The stampede ensured after Immigration officers deployed  to the centre to maintain peace started shooting into the air.
Many  of the applicants  returned home bruised, humiliated, wearied and disappointed as shootings and confusion took the better part of exercise in the state.

The NIS Spokesperson, Felix Kuti,  said those  rejected but refused to leave the premises  precipitated  the confusion.
He said: “they were getting unmanageable and you know this venue with lots of
cars and property if they were not scared away by that shooting, they were ready to engage in violence as they had begun throwing stones.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last night  expressed grief at the death of the applicants.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh,  said that the party  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 stated that 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 those injured in the stampede and charged the Ministry of Interior and all relevant agencies of government to, as a matter of urgency, unravel the remote and immediate causes of the stampede.
Culled from The Nation