At least seven people were killed and dozens were injured in Nigeria’s capital city Abuja on Saturday after thousands of panicked job-seekers stampeded at the national stadium during a nation wide recruitment exercise in which tens of thousands of unemployed graduates are scrambling for a less than 10,000 job slots.
While over 20,000 applicants participated in the exercise in Abuja, no fewer than 26,000 others took part in Kaduna. It was gathered that the stampede at the Abuja venue broke out as applicants surged towards a central stage. They said only one entrance to the 60,000-capacity stadium was open.
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Victims were taken to a public hospital, though many could not be admitted due to lack of capacity.”I cannot even imagine the number of people that stamped on me,” said survivor Rosemary Ogida. “I just remember being picked up by three men.” The young woman, who had regained consciousness at the hospital but could barely move her left leg,said she was desperate after having lost the original of her university diploma certificate in the stampede. Though the National Hospital in Abuja confirmed the number of the dead applicants but the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS conducting the exercise kept sealed lips. The sheer size of the crowds was a testament to the vast numbers of unemployed in Nigeria, most of whose 170 million citizens live on less than two dollars a day, while the country lags behind in key development indicators such as health. Unemployment is a particular challenge, with an estimated 37.5% of under-25s out of work, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In Kaduna, about 26,000 unemployed youths turned out for the nationwide aptitude test at the Murtala Square centre which was besieged by a mammoth crowd as early as 6am. However, the exercise did not commence until around 4pm. The long delay in the commencement of the aptitude test frustrated some of the applicants who later left the venue without writing the test. It was also confirmed that some of the applicants collapsed due to the intensity of the sun. Comptroller, Immigration Service, Kaduna Command, Apang Takum who spoke to journalists at the venue said his command was doing everything possible to ensure hitch-free aptitude test exercise in the state.
Victims were taken to a public hospital, though many could not be admitted due to lack of capacity.”I cannot even imagine the number of people that stamped on me,” said survivor Rosemary Ogida. “I just remember being picked up by three men.” The young woman, who had regained consciousness at the hospital but could barely move her left leg,said she was desperate after having lost the original of her university diploma certificate in the stampede. Though the National Hospital in Abuja confirmed the number of the dead applicants but the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS conducting the exercise kept sealed lips. The sheer size of the crowds was a testament to the vast numbers of unemployed in Nigeria, most of whose 170 million citizens live on less than two dollars a day, while the country lags behind in key development indicators such as health. Unemployment is a particular challenge, with an estimated 37.5% of under-25s out of work, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In Kaduna, about 26,000 unemployed youths turned out for the nationwide aptitude test at the Murtala Square centre which was besieged by a mammoth crowd as early as 6am. However, the exercise did not commence until around 4pm. The long delay in the commencement of the aptitude test frustrated some of the applicants who later left the venue without writing the test. It was also confirmed that some of the applicants collapsed due to the intensity of the sun. Comptroller, Immigration Service, Kaduna Command, Apang Takum who spoke to journalists at the venue said his command was doing everything possible to ensure hitch-free aptitude test exercise in the state.
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