At least 47 desperate job seekers in Cross River State reportedly parted with a combined N51.8 million after fraudsters allegedly convinced them that they had secured appointments into the state’s local government service.
The victims were said to have paid between N100,000 and N1.5 million for the non-existent appointments, with applicants seeking senior positions reportedly losing the largest sums.
Chairman of the Cross River State Local Government Service Commission, Nsa Ekpo, disclosed the details while explaining the findings of a panel set up to investigate irregularities in the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
According to Ekpo, the fraud went beyond collecting money from unsuspecting applicants, as the alleged perpetrators issued fake employment letters to reinforce the impression that the victims had actually secured government jobs.
“A panel was set up to investigate the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise when we got some information about irregularities,” Ekpo said, adding that the investigation uncovered 47 people who were allegedly “cajoled and intimidated” into paying more than N51.8 million for jobs that did not exist.
He said applicants for senior positions were particularly vulnerable, with some allegedly paying between N1.3 million and N1.5 million in the belief that the payments would secure their appointments.
The investigation also uncovered alleged attempts to manipulate the recruitment process by inserting relatives and other preferred persons into the list of prospective employees, including some who were not residents of Cross River.
Ekpo said whistle-blowers played a major role in exposing the alleged scheme after the commission assured them that their identities and safety would be protected.
“Many of these victims came to open up and submitted evidence which the panel verified,” he said.
The commission is now working to identify those allegedly behind the scheme for possible prosecution and other sanctions, according to the chairman.
The state government has consequently cancelled the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, although 821 candidates from the annulled process who were cleared during the review will be retained.
Ekpo said a fresh recruitment exercise for 4,000 positions in the local government service was expected to begin within two weeks.
He assured prospective applicants that the new process would not be commercialised and said the final list of successful candidates, including the 821 retained applicants, would be made public.
The revelations have put a stark human face on the vulnerability of unemployed applicants who are willing to part with large sums in the hope of securing scarce government jobs, while the use of purported employment letters shows how the alleged fraud was designed to appear legitimate.
