Minister Begs For Mercy Over NIS Recruitment Deaths

yetunde oyeleke

April 7, 2014 12:34 PM

At least 16 applicants lost their lives, with many others injured, during the botched NIS recruitment following a stampede.

Nigeria's Minister of Interior, Abba Moro has apologized to Nigerians for the failed Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise which claimed at least, 16 applicants' lives on 15th March 2014.

The minister made the apology during a press briefing in Abuja.

“I want to say repeatedly that the death of these young Nigerians who would have added value to human resource asset of this nation is highly regrettable. And for the families, I insist that my heart goes out to them because I am a father too.”

The Minister pleaded for Nigerians’ understanding over the matter, adding that his ministry had intended a transparent exercise.

“I think that I will ordinarily ask Nigerians for understanding in this matter, understanding the intention, understanding the motive behind the whole thing of an open, transparent recruitment exercise.

The under-fire Minister said that his Ministry followed due process contrary to some allegations.

“I can say here without any fear of contradiction that I took due cognizance of the provisions of the legal framework of this country. We did as much as we could possibly do to follow all due process in the procurement of the mechanism for this exercise," he said.

Moro however accepted blame for the failure of the exercise.

"If for any reason, something went wrong in some centres in the last lap of the exercise, I think we should be able to own up to it,” Moro said.

Some activists have been calling for the Minister's sack following the botched exercise where some applicants died and many other sustained injuries.

yetunde oyeleke