• Family in tears
|
Late Lucy |
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.
Meanwhile, Ibomcelebs exclusively gather, that the family of late Lucy is currently in tears over the dead of their daughter.
A
close family insider who craved anonymity hinted our correspondent that
mother is currently in coma when she hear the shocking news of her
daughter's demise.
"In
fact the mother have been crying bitterly for days now. As we are
speaking she is currently in coma at undisclosed hospital just as the
whole family is in tears," the source further hinted.