The first of at least 20 people killed during a stampede at a Saturday job fair was buried on Monday. Her name is Lucy, one of at least ten people in Port-Harcourt center, who died during a nationwide Immigration job screening exercise that turned chaotic. She was buried by her family in her home town in Akwa-Ibom State, earlier today.
Lucy was one of many applicants, numbering in the hundreds, who appeared for screening at the Port-Harcourt center on Saturday. She reportedly gave up due to the density of crowd, who had surged forward and ran over scores of others, overwhelming the capacity of the center.
Lucy, a woman in her thirties, lived at "German Butcher", Elelenwo in Port-Harcourt. She was preparing to marry before the fateful incident took her life, family and close friends said.
At least ten other people died in Abuja on Saturday, during what witnesses said became a tense scene that led to hassles, and heated arguments among the applicants attending the Immigration job screening exercise.
Many applicants, as yet, an undetermined number, were injured and admitted to the National Hospital. At other centers nationwide crowds of unemployed youth had also overwhelmed various centers. The large number of applicants, some say, puts a human face on joblessness across Nigeria, and reveals in real terms the high and disturbing rate of unemployment in the country.
In Lagos State, the National Stadium center was also overwhelmed with hundreds of job seeking applicants. Immigration screening organizers were surprised and shocked at the large turnout of young people.
At least a dozen job centers across Nigeria had to cancel their job screening outright, leading to anger and frustration.
The job seekers went on the street in protest, what some called, “a futile day,” at the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) job screening center.
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