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| Former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro |
The Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arrested a former Minister of Interior,
Abba Moro, over the Nigerian Immigration recruitment scam in which no fewer
than 20 job seekers died.
Media
report continues:
Also
arrested by the anti-graft agency were former Permanent Secretary in the
ministry, Anastasia Nwaobia, and a deputy director who allegedly facilitated
the scam.
A
source at the commission, who cannot be named because she is not authorized to
speak on the matter, told reporters the three suspects were picked up in the
evening.
“They
were brought into the commission’s headquarters today and will be arraigned on
a 12-count charge in the Federal High Court Abuja on Tuesday,” the source said.
Some
of the charges against Mr. Moro and his colleagues include obtaining by false
pretence, procurement offences, corrupt practices and money laundering.
At
least nine job seekers died on March 15, 2014 at the Abuja National Stadium
while scrambling to secure seats for a recruitment test into the Nigerian
Immigration Service.
The stampede ensued after the over 200,000 job seekers scrambled through a poorly organized barricade at the stadium.
The stampede ensued after the over 200,000 job seekers scrambled through a poorly organized barricade at the stadium.
In
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, four applicants died from the stampede while 12
others sustained injuries and were rushed to Rivers government-owned
Braithwaite Memorial Hospital.
After
the March 15 tragedy, several Nigerians demanded the resignation or dismissal
of Mr. Moro and the Comptroller-General of Immigration, David Parradang, as
well as their criminal prosecution for involuntary homicide.
They
were accused of putting in place a sham recruitment process that enabled the
interior ministry to extort at least ₦520 million in compulsory levy imposed on
applicants.
The
minister, who initially blamed impatience and refusal by applicants to abide by
instructions for the tragedy, later accepted responsibility for the incident.
He,
however, refused to step down.
Speaking
on a Channels TV’s breakfast programme, Sunrise, on October 20, 2014, Mr. Moro
made it clear he would not resign, saying he would rather stay put in office to
clear the mess caused by the incidence.
“The
point at which we are now is not about resignation. That time has gone,” Mr.
Morro said in response to a question over why he refused to quit.
“At
the time (people were calling for his resignation), I think emotions were very
high. I was in the eye of a storm.
“At
that time, a lot of options were on the table… The issue is do you resign or do
you stay to sort out the problem that have been created?
“I
decided that staying and mopping up the mess caused by the lack of proper
implementation of our plans is better. That’s the point we are now.”
The
minister said Nigerians should consider the tragedy as an accident which he too
did not plan for or envisage.
“I
also have families. I didn’t set out on that journey knowing that accident
would occur that would lead to the death of human beings.
“We took everything into
proper perspective. If we had succeeded, a few Nigerians would have congratulated
us for the job well done.”
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