The House of Representatives has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to refund the N1,000 fee

The House of Representatives has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to refund the N1,000 fee applicants in its last recruitment exercise paid for employment form. The Joint Committee on Public Service Matter, Employment, Labour and Productivity as well as Anti-Corruption, National Ethics and Values was mandated by the House to probe racketeering of job placement in the public service.

At the two-day public hearing yesterday, the committee decried the flagrant contravention of public service rules by the NIS, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), among others, on recruitment.

The three agencies were asked to return today, having failed to provide the committee withdocuments on the procedure for their recruitment.

The Nigeria Immigration Service provided conflicting documents, and failed to follow due process in its recruitment.

A document showed that 2,005 people were employed in 2011, with another putting the figure at 2,550. Both documents, however, did not record the qualifications of the new employees.What?!!!!

The House committee was shocked when Secretary to the Board of Civil Defence, Fire,Immigration and Prison Service Board, Sylvanus Tapgun, the body responsible for recruitment into those agencies, said he did not know the bank account number into which the revenue generated from the sale of application forms was lodged. Story!!!

He was also unable to tell the committee the firm handling the collection of the forms, and faled too to give the number of forms sold. Sharp guy!!!

Tapgun also claimed to be unaware of the House Representatives’ resolution urging the NIS to stop collecting fees for the employment forms.

“I did not place the advertisement; it was done by my predecessor. I don’t know the account number. I resumed office on September 18, 2013. I read the minutes of the last meeting of the board in August and it was not about recruitment but promotion in Immigration and Prison Services,” he said.

So this is how these Federal government agencies extort money from job seekers. Even as they already have comfortable jobs, they're still not satisfied.  Maybe extorting 1000 Naira from every job seeker in Nigeria will give them a lifetime satisfaction. 

I just hope this won't end here. I urge the Federal House of Reps to follow it up.

Naija! Everyone wants to make more money at all cost. Even if it means starving the poor, poisoning the orphans, committing murder, extorting money from job seekers, whatever it is, just to get richer and richer and richer and richer.

SMH.