Reps order immediate employment of 192 victims of immigration stampede

IN a bid to ensure compliance to presidential directives, the House of Representatives has ordered the immediate employment of 196 victims of the 2014 Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) recruitment exercise stampede.

The decision followed the report of Femi Gbajabiamila led ad-hoc committee which probed into the issue of non -compliance of the directive of former president Goodluck Jonathan that victims of the stampede be offered immediate employment as a palliative measure.

Going by official records, a total number of 16 applicants died while 176 persons were injured in the ill-fated recruitment stampede across the country.

The ad-hoc committee, which includes the House minority leader, Leo Ogor and Alhaji Aminu Shehu Shagari recommended the immediate employment of the relatives of the deceased candidates with all their salaries and emoluments paid to them effect from the date of the presidential directives.

It also ordered immediate issuance of appointment letters and redeployment of the 176 injured candidates whose names were submitted by the department of state services (DSS) and their salaries and emoluments paid to them effective from the date of the presidential directives.

Continuing, the report noted: “In order to verify the claims of other petitioners who were shortlisted and got injured in respect of the first aborted exercise (whose names are not in the list of 176) to the public complaints commission, a verification team from the Comptroller –General’s office should visit government hospitals in the affected states where injuries were reported and obtain official reports from the hospital management in respect of the injury claims.

The report said: “That the reports obtained above should be verified along with the medical reports submitted by the protesting candidates.

“Immediate issuance of employment letters and deployment of those who are certified injured and their salaries and emoluments paid effective from the date of the presidential directives.

“That the Federal Government should immediately set up a committee to look at the methodology of recruitment by Federal Government agencies in Nigeria and evolve a system/modality that will forestall reoccurrence of the NIS recruitment incidence.”

The ad-hoc committee established among others that perceived anomalies in the recruitment exercise referred to led to a power tussle between the board and the presidential committee which resulted in the acceding to the request of the presidential committee.

Consequently, it noted that even though letters of appointment have been given to family members of those who lost their lives in the ill-fated recruitment exercise, and even though orientation training has been organised for the candidates, further actions were put on hold on the instructions of the permanent secretary, ministry of interior and the employment of candidate was aborted.