Nigerian immigration workers protest loss of 2,000 jobs

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Hundreds of protesters gathered in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Tuesday to demand the reappointment of 2,000 immigration service workers.

The workers had passed government tests and been appointed to the service in August last year before the job offers were withdrawn.

“We are victims of dubious politics and what is being meted out to us is grave injustice,” workers’ representative Charles Vitalla Mathew told Anadolu Agency. “While they claim not to have money to pay us, the same immigration service has secretly hired persons with links to politicians.”

He said the government had until Friday to make a statement or protests would resume next week.

Activist Aishah Yesufu, one of the organizers of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, was among those who submitted a petition to Government Secretary Babachir Lawal.

The protesters were received by a team led by President Muhammadu Buhari’s special adviser on policy and strategy Mallam Ibrahim, who promised to convey their message to the president.

In a tweet late Tuesday, Interior Minister Abdulrahman Dambazau said: “Arrangement has reached advanced stage to put smiles on the faces of 2000 Nigeria Immigration recruits”.