THIS IS SAD: Woman and Her Husband As Immigration Victims

A couple, who were among the injured during last weekend’s Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) recruitment tragedy, are crying out for help. Mrs Grace Omuagbo and her husband Mr. Timothy Omuagbon, are among the Nigerians who tried to get a job with the Immigration Service during the scam exercise but she is now in the hospital being treated at the emergency ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

Grace, an Economics graduate of the Delta State University, suffered a broken rib and scapula during the stampede at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.

A can was provided to help her drain out blood from her broken rib and she was put on oxygen. "I had broken ribs and a bone in my shoulder. An iron has been fixed in my rib to enable the blood to flow. Doctors said my lungs collapsed"... 

Grace said she and her husband received text messages to be at the stadium for the test but were surprised to meet a huge crowd.

“As we were going in, people were struggling to get in, but the door was not wide enough. I fell and was revived. Immigration officials took us to the Central hospital. I could not talk and I was coughing out blood,” she said, adding:

“My husband took me to private hospital from where I was referred here. We were many that Immigration officers took to the hospital. One person died.

“My husband paid the hospital bill. I teach in a private school and earn a little salary. They should help us and give one of us a job. My husband finished from Auchi Polytechnic since 2006.” 

The Omuagbons have three children.

Her husband Timothy studied Accountancy at Auchi Federal Polytechnic and worked at a firm before opting to drive taxi because the salary was “little” and was being delayed.

He had bruises all over his body but said he had to be strong to enable him take care of his wife.

“I am 35 years old. At the stadium, the crowd was large. Only one gate was open for the thousands of people who came for the test. We were at the front. I held my wife so that we could be together. Both of us fell and many people fell on us. You can see the bruises all over my body.

“Immigration officers helped me out. My wife was still being trampled when I had to call for help. She was already gone but they poured water on her. Immigration people brought their van and took us to the hospital. They left us there. I saw my wife’s condition and I took her away.

“I have spent over N100,000. I was doing a private job and was being paid N30,000 but the salary was not regular. It was not helping my family, which made me to leave. I was working as a taxi driver before we heard of this recruitment. They should not allow us to die before giving us jobs. They should come to our aid. My wife is lying here at the hospital and there’s nobody to help,” he said.

The minister and the Immigration authority have not said anything about the plight of this suffering couple.