Jonathan Offers Jobs To Relations Of Immigration Stampede Victims

President Goodluck Jonathan has given automatic employment to 35 unemployed relations of 15 job seekers who lost their lives during last year nationwide recruitment by the Nigeria Immigration Service.

The President said all steps must be taken to avoid a repeat of the experience.

He said the government’s gesture was not a compensation for the lives lost but simply to identify with the families of the deceased.

Employment were offered to three members of each bereaved family, but some of the bereaved families are yet to present qualified members to take up the offer.

The President said he was deeply saddened by the death of their relatives in circumstances that were completely avoidable and unwarranted.

A Sad Day For All

President Jonathan said the Federal Government was fully committed to ensuring high standards for recruitment processes into the public service and the provision of safety measures to avoid the recurrence of the incident which claimed many lives.

“Today is a sad day for all of us. First, let me convey our deepest condolences to the families who lost very young people during the recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Immigration Service.

“It is quite regrettable and we promise that such a thing will never happen again,” President Jonathan said.

He further apologised for the delay in fulfilling the promise of employment to members of the bereaved families, explaining that employment into the public service must go through some processes.

Cheques for an undisclosed amount were also given to each of the bereaved families at the occasion.

“The cheque is not for compensation. You cannot replace somebody with any amount of money,” the President said.

Speaking on behalf of the bereaved families, Yunusa Imam thanked President Jonathan for the cheques and letters of employment.

“We thank you, Mr President for the promises that you have kept. We are profoundly grateful,” Imam, a guardian of one of the victims, said.

The job seekers died on March 15 after authorities were unable to control the crowd of at the National Stadium in Abuja.

They had gathered for an aptitude test for the 2013/2014 applicants who had applied to join the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Eyewitness said that over 56,000 graduates gathered at the National Stadium as early as 7:00am local time to take part in the recruitment exercise conducted by the Nigeria Immigration Service when the incident occurred.

After the incident, President Jonathan ordered an investigation into the cause of the stampede and promised to offer the relations of the dead persons job."