A former Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, David Shiafu Parradang, has told a Federal High Court in Abuja how he alleged that due process was ignored during the controversial 2014 recruitment exercise that resulted in the deaths of 15 applicants.
Parradang, who served as Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at the time, made the disclosure while testifying as the first prosecution witness in the trial of former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, and three other defendants.
According to the former immigration chief, he was not officially informed about the recruitment exercise until he saw an advertorial about it in a newspaper.
He told the court that the Ministry of Interior, which was headed by Moro at the time, did not follow the established recruitment procedures during the exercise.
Parradang explained that previous recruitment exercises normally involved several stages, including the collection of applications, screening, shortlisting, examinations, marking of scripts, physical screening and other assessments required for entry into the paramilitary service.
“As regards to procedure, we have been holding many exercises in the past. First, we will collect applications, screen, shortlist and then set up a date for examination of candidates in their states of origin.
“After that, we then mark papers and qualified candidates are invited for physical screening. This is to see whether candidates have height and other requirements to enter paramilitary service.
Then after that, they will be subjected to physical exercise like standing for hours and other rigours of the job.
“But all these were not followed in the 2014 exercise,” Parradang told the court.
Funding Dispute Over Recruitment Exercise
The former Comptroller-General also gave evidence concerning the funding of the recruitment exercise.
He said immigration officials had informed the then minister that the service did not have funds in its budget to finance the exercise after the minister announced the recruitment date.
According to him, the issue was subsequently brought before the recruitment subcommittee, which considered whether the consultant engaged by the Ministry to conduct the online recruitment could finance the exercise.
Parradang said the subcommittee wrote to the company to clarify whether the money collected from applicants could be used to fund the recruitment exercise.
He told the court that the consultant responded that funding the recruitment exercise was not part of its agreement with the Ministry.
According to the witness, each applicant had paid N1,000 for the online application process, but the consultant maintained that the money was strictly for online services and that it had no obligation to finance the recruitment exercise.
Parradang said the matter was subsequently brought back to the minister for further consideration.
“We came back to position zero and we decided that it should be brought to the knowledge of the Minister, whether he could convince the company to fund the exercise,” he said.
The former immigration boss told the court that the subcommittee submitted its report but did not receive a response until March 14, 2014, one day before the scheduled recruitment exercise.
He said he subsequently received a letter dated March 13 informing the service that arrangements had been concluded for the March 15 exercise and directing the relevant authorities to inform the states.
‘We Were Told The Exercise Must Go Ahead’
Parradang said he contacted the secretary to the board to requestfunds for officers who would participate in the exercise.
According to him, the secretary asked the officers to submit their account numbers, after which the coordinators in the various zones informed him that they had received N300,000 each.
The coordinators, he said, complained that the amount would not be sufficient to cover the necessary logistics.
Parradang said he subsequently asked where the money came from and was informed that it had been provided by the consultant.
He told the court that he raised concerns about the amount, particularly because the exercise required logistics such as venues and ambulances for first-aid services.
Despite the concerns, he said, he was informed that the recruitment exercise had to proceed.
Applicantsq Overwhelmed Venues
Parradang further told the court that shortly after the exercise commenced, he began receiving calls from officials reporting that they were overwhelmed by the number of applicants who had turned up.
“I started getting calls that they were overwhelmed with the number of applicants, and I advised them to seek help from sister security agencies and keep me informed of further happenings,” he said.
He added that while he was in Jos the following day, he began receiving calls and text messages about the developing situation.
According to him, he immediately returned to Abuja to coordinate the response and instructed officials to document their complaints and submit written reports.
“At the end, we had 15 deaths and 165 injured, according to report by DSS,” Parradang told the court.
Presidential Slots Later Withdrawn
The witness also testified about the decision by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to provide employment opportunities for some of the victims’ relatives and injured applicants.
The witness also testified about the decision by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to provide employment opportunities for some of the victims’ relatives and injured applicants.
Parradang said the former president later invited the injured applicants and siblings of those who died and announced three employment slots for each of them.
According to him, however, the arrangement was subsequently rejected by the relevant board on the grounds that it was not in accordance with the law.
“A year later, the President called us and those injured and siblings of those who died. Three slots were openly given to each of them,” Parradang said.
He added that the president subsequently constituted a committee to conduct another recruitment exercise, but the earlier three slots were not incorporated into the new process.
According to the witness, the letters earlier issued to the beneficiaries were eventually withdrawn after the Ministry described the arrangement as an illegal recruitment.
Moro And Three Others Face Trial
Moro and three other defendants are standing trial over allegations arising from the 2014 recruitment exercise.
The defendants were accused of obtaining approximately N675.675 million from 675,675 graduate applicants who were required to pay N1,000 each as processing fees for 5,000 advertised positions.
They were also accused of violating provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, in connection with the award of the contract for the organisation of the recruitment test to Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited.
The allegations are being contested in court, and the trial is yet to determine the criminal liability of the defendants.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba subsequently adjourned the proceedings to July 1 for the cross-examination of Parradang.
The March 15, 2014 recruitment exercise remains one of the most controversial recruitment exercises in the history of Nigeria’s immigration service, following the deaths and injuries recorded when thousands of applicants turned up at designated centres across the country.
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