Three of the over 11,000 candidates for the aptitude test for recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service were on Saturday feared dead in Minna, Niger State capital.
They died following a stampede during accreditation and clearance of candidates to enter into the examination hall.
Situation got out of the control of Immigration personnel as the applicants overwhelmed the officials supervising the exercise forcing one of the officers to open tear gas and in the process seven persons collapsed and were rushed to the hospital where three persons gave up the ghost.
Trouble started when the applicants became unruly as they complained of the slow pace of the accreditation the Chief examiner from the headquarters of the service whom we gathered insisted to call names of the candidates based on the serial numbers of the application forms but did not go down well with the candidates.
This development precipitated a rowdy session as most candidates who were on a queue became apprehensive and complained that the line, which was over a kilometre was not moving as anticipated.
One of the victims that was rushed to Minna General Hospital was in a critical condition while the other three injured victims are said to have been stable but quarantined from the public and the media.
Efforts to get details about the victims were fruitless as the hospital authority and staff refused to comment based on security directive.
But a medical personnel confirmed that three of the seven injured persons were dead, one in critical condition while the other three are in stable condition.
He further said that the bodies of those who died have been deposited at the mortuary .
But the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Ibrahim Sule said only two of the applicants dead. According to him, “one female was reported dead on arrival at the hospital and the other male applicant died at Minna General Hospital.”
He also said that four other males were equally treated and discharged, while seven other females applicants are currently receiving treatment for their injuries at the hospital.
The Niger State Controller of Immigration Service, Ezekiel S. Kaura confirmed that 11,000 candidates sat for the recruitment examination in Minna centre but said that five collapsed as a result stampeded and were rushed to the hospital. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com