“NIS Tragedy: Moro’s Apology Not Enough”

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines Friday, March 28th, 2014

Kayode Adelowokan

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has called for the prosecution of the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro over the circumstances that led to the death of 16 people during the March 15 ill-fated recruitment exercise into the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro

This came on the heel of the apology tendered by the minister to Nigerians while appearing before the Atiku Bagudu-led Senate Committee on Interior probing the fatal exercise.

Abba Moro had accepted responsibility for the tragedy which he said could have been averted if the exercise had been attended by only those that registered online for it. Before he spoke, the Comptroller-General of the NIS, Mr. David Parradang and the Secretary of the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board, Mr. Sylvanus Tapgun, had told the committee that they were not properly carried along by the ministry in the planning of the exercise.

Reacting to the development, the Coalition through its Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran noted that the minister’s apology does not absolve him of culpability.

He said, “It is a good thing that the minister accepted the fault for the ill-fated exercise. It must however be noted that he apologized does not absolve him of being culpable. He was employed, not to perpetrate failure, but to make things easier for the President who engaged his services. It is evidenced that the Minister didn’t consult with the relevant stakeholders including the Comptroller-General of the NIS, before embarking on the show of shame because if the CG could come out in the open to deny his involvement in the recruitment exercise, it means all is not well within the services under the minister’s watch. Since he came, tragedy has been the common thing of every recruitment exercise.

“More so, Mr. Moro has also been alleged to be nepotistic; it has been alleged that he has more Idoma people who are his people in the recruitment of the agencies under his watch. It has also been alleged that since he came, he has hijacked the functions of all the CGs of agencies under his purview. Before now, there’s a way the agencies had been doing their recruitment without the entire hullabaloo. As a matter of fact, hiring of consultant is alien to the recruitment process in the services. Not that alone, it has also been alleged that Mr. Moro also hired consultants for promotional examinations whereas officers that are responsible for it are sidelined. He has practically taken up the role of the CG. That he is the minster does not make him an officer of any of the agencies. The questions begging for answers are: Who are the consultants? What process led to their appointment? How much were they paid and what guidelines for the exercise were they given? What are the pre-qualification for the hiring of the consultants? The minster should be made to answer these questions”, Adeniran stated.

The human rights activists however called for the immediate suspension and eventual prosecution of the minister for manslaughter.

“The authority should note that the minister has pleaded guilty as charged, the prosecution that should follow his removal from the office should just be a formality because he has already pleaded guilty as charged and he should be punished accordingly for manslaughter. He should therefore be suspended, as he awaits prosecution for his crimes against the Nigerian people.”