Some applicants, who were recruited by the Nigeria Immigration Service in February 2015 and subsequently sacked while undergoing training, protested their sacking by the Federal Government on Monday in Abuja.
The candidates, who protested at the Ministry of Interior with placards and banners, demanded their reinstatement into the NIS.
The youth, in a statement titled ‘2,000 immigration recruits demand justice’, co-signed by Rex Elenu, Abdulazeez Abdulahi, Bome Fada, Ekperi Kalada and Maureen Twar, said they were recruited under a presidential directive by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
They added that 2,000 successful candidates were recruited into the NIS out of the 48,747 persons that applied.
The group said they were directed to report at the Immigration training schools in Kano, Orlu, Imo and Ahoada in Rivers State where they were documented and issued service numbers.
The statement read, “The 2,000 candidates, who made the final shortlist, reported at the various training institutions on May 25, 2015 and stayed for more than a week during which they were all documented and issued service numbers after a thorough verification of credentials by a team from the fraud investigation unit of the service.
“After the documentation exercise, the Assistant Inspectors of Immigration and the Immigration Assistants were issued appointment letters and posting order while the Assistant Superintendents were only issued posting orders, stating in clear terms, that the appointment letters would be sent in due course.”
The protesters claimed they were directed to report for induction which they said involved intense military drills, physical exercises and courses on immigration and police duties.
“To our dismay, a memo was received from the service headquarters on August 20, 2015, directing that the recruits be ‘dispersed forthwith.’ While we waited for an official memo, the Ministry of Interior and the NIS went ahead to recruit over 2,000 personnel secretly, who are presently in the training institutions,” the group alleged.
The Interior Ministry, in its reaction, said it was looking into the case with a view to addressing it.
A statement by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Bassey Akpanyung, said it was aware of the incident involving the 2,000 NIS ‘dispersed’ recruits.
“Sequel to enquiries made to the Ministry of Interior on the Special Presidential Committee’s recruitment exercise, in which applicants who were undergoing training, were abruptly dispersed in August 2015, the ministry wishes to state that it is looking into the entire process with a view to redressing it.
“In the meantime, the Ministry of Interior advises all those affected in the exercise to remain calm and observe decorum while the ministry resolves the matter,” it added.
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