NUJ Demands Moro’s Sack, Prosecution

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has expressed surprise over the continued stay in office of the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro in the aftermath of the tragic recruitment exercise of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) that claimed lives, and called for his immediate sack and prosecution.
The NUJ also opined that the ill-fated recruitment exercise has exposed the nation’s economy as ‘prostrate’ due to the high rate of unemployment as evident by the number of job seekers that applied and thronged the various centres, designated for the exercise.
Speaking in an interview with The Tide in Abuja, the Chairman of NUJ, Abuja Council, Mr. Chuks Ehirin said Morro ought to have been relieved of his appointment immediately the incident took place and investigated, instead of allowing him to hang on to power till now.
“The minister of Interior said, Nigerians should be calm, that the incident is being investigated; that we should be calm until the investigation is completed but I think he’s the one to be investigated’’, he said.
Ehirin recalled that a little over a year ago, there was a squabble between the minister and the former controller-general of immigration, which culminated in her sack and the reason for their sharp disagreement has been kept away from public till this recent incident which claimed the lives of the helpless and jobless graduates.
The NUJ boss said that the jobs advertised were largely non-existent, as the existing vacancies have been largely filled by the minister during the squabble that claimed the immediate-past controller-general.
Ehirin also criticised payment of money by the applicants before they were short-listed for the interview, saying that it is extortion.
He lamented that “In this country, we know that in most of these organizations, Nigerians paid through their nose; when some people narrate their experiences, you will weep: people paid as much as N250,000 and N300,000 to get job placement. So, that minister has to be investigated, it’s not enough to say resign or be sack”.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Mr Abba Moro, yesterday, apologised to Nigerians over the recent botched Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment claimed the lives of 16 applicants with several others injured at the different venues across the country.
Moro made the apology when he fielded questions from newsmen in Abuja.
He said “I want Nigerians to understand the motive and intention behind the entire process of an open and transparent exercise.
“This was the first of its kind in the ministry and it was intended primarily to give employment to Nigerians, irrespective of background and connections.’’
The minister added that the ministry planned to conduct an open recruitment in order not be accused of job racketeering and to correct the mistakes made in the conduct of previous exercises.
Unfortunately, he noted, some applicants died, while several got injured in the process.
“Whatever outcome we got from this exercise, positive or negative, I am the minister and I take full responsibility for it,’’ Moro said.
He lamented the unfortunate deaths that took place, asking for forgiveness and understanding from families of the deceased.
“The deaths of these young Nigerians who would have added value to the human resource of the country is highly regrettable.
“I crave the highest level of understanding of every Nigerian. If we had foreseen these deaths, we would have stopped the exercise,” he added.
The minister explained that after the botched exercise of 2012, intense preparations for a successful exercise in 2014 commenced.
He said that the recruitment board of the ministry met many times and decisions about the procedures for conducting the exercise were taken.
“If these meetings were held with board members and immigration officers in attendance, how can some persons say now that they were not aware of the procedures leading to the exercise.

Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Teaching and Learning, Dr Agodi Alagbe (left), with the Founder, Autism Care and Support Initiative, Dr Julia Ejiogu, at a seminar on Autism in Abuja, recently

Justus Awaji, Abuja