Jonathan Weeps For 16 Youths Killed In Stampede For Immigration Forms To Write Exams

                                                         

Officials and activists say at least 16 people died in stampedes when a half million people were invited to apply for fewer than 5,000 Nigerian government Immigration service jobs.

The official News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday quoted Interior Minister Abba Moro as saying the 16 died in five locations around the country on Saturday. He said they "lost their lives through their impatience."

The Education Rights Campaign blamed his ministry for inviting more applicants than centers could accommodate.

It said 65,000 people were invited to the Abuja National Stadium that has a capacity for 60,000. Seven people died there.

The campaign said some 500,000 applicants were invited to apply for 4,556 vacancies at the Nigeria Immigration Service.

Official statistics put the number of unemployed at about 40 million.

  

The employment test for recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) conducted across the country Saturday turned deadly as stampede at three centres claimed the lives of 16 applicants and left scores injured.

Eight people were feared dead during a stampede at the National Stadium Abuja, five lives were lost at the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, Port Harcourt, while three applicants were also feared dead in Minna.

However, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that seven people lost their lives and 40 were injured in the stampede in Abuja.

The employment test for recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) conducted across the country Saturday turned deadly as stampede at three centres claimed the lives of 16 applicants and left scores injured.

Eight people were feared dead during a stampede at the National Stadium Abuja, five lives were lost at the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, Port Harcourt, while three applicants were also feared dead in Minna.

However, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that seven people lost their lives and 40 were injured in the stampede in Abuja.