The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has warned job seekers paying money out of desperation to secure employment in the ongoing recruitment that immigration job was not for sale.

Mr Babandede, who issued the warning in Abuja on Friday at a media chat said some of its officers were arrested for extorting money from desperate job seekers and handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for prosecution.

“Immigration job is not for sale and we have arrested so many people in respect of fraudulent activities and deception about our ongoing recruitment exercise.

“Just last week, I signed a letter to ICPC forwarding one immigration officer and correctional personnel to them for prosecution.

“They collected almost N15 million from innocent Nigerians who gave them money with the promise of jobs in the service,” he said.

According to him, many people have opened fake websites that look exactly like NIS such as www.immigration.gov while ours is www.immigration.gov.ng.

“Anybody who has given money for or asked to give money about recruitment should send details of the person or officer concerned to my email.

“If you are not satisfied because it is a report against us, there is SERVICOM site. Or, better still, you can go to ICPC or any anti-corruption agency near you.

“We have not sold any slot. We don’t intend to sell any slot. There will be no slot for sale,” Mr Babandede reiterated.

He said that only 4,120 applicants would be employed by the service after undergoing physical fitness examination and credential verification.

The comptroller-general said that the list of successful applicants would be published on the NIS’ website.

He said successful candidates would be contacted through bulk emails and text messages, adding that applicants were expected to check the website for their centre starting from Monday.

On security measures put in place to ensure candidates’ safety, he said that all NIS state officers would work with security agencies in all six zones during the exercise to ensure safety.

(NAN)