By Hon. Jacob Agada
By any honest measure, the 2014 Immigration recruitment tragedy and scam remains one of the darkest stains on Nigeria’s conscience. Dozens of young Nigerians; bright, hopeful, desperate for opportunity, left their homes with application slips and dreams, only to return in body bags. Their only “offence” was seeking employment from a PDP oriented system that failed them.
And in the centre of that disaster and scam was Abba Moro.
A Decade Later, the Questions Refuse to Die
On 15th March, 2014, hundreds of thousands of young Nigerians flocked to overcrowded test centres for a nationwide NIS recruitment exercise. The event, intended to fill less than 5,000 positions, drew over 675,000 applicants, each of whom had paid a ₦1,000 non-refundable fee through a privately run online portal alleged to belong to Abba Moro. Poor logistics, crowd control failures, and inadequate medical support resulted in fatal stampedes in Abuja, Makurdi, Port Harcourt, Benin, and other cities, despite the huge money involved.
The tragedy sparked nationwide grief and anger. Families of victims and civil society groups accused Abba Moro of negligence and exploitation, pointing to the mandatory application fee and chaotic planning.
While the nation mourned, Moro, then Minister of Interior, offered neither deep remorse nor leadership. Instead, he famously blamed the victims for being “impatient.” Impatient? The same people he collected ₦1,000 each from through a controversial portal later linked to his company awarded a contract without proper procurement approval from Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP)?
Years later, the EFCC’s charges; fraud, abuse of office, procurement violations, did not fall from the sky. They were born from a real tragedy and a real chain of decisions signed under Moro’s watch. The courts may decide legal guilt, but moral accountability is a different tribunal entirely, and Nigerians know its verdict.
From Tragedy to Senate Seat: A Journey Only Nigeria Allows
In a saner society, a public official tied to a disaster and scam of that magnitude would struggle to show his face in public, not to speak of occupying the red chamber of the National Assembly. In accountable nations, public trust is sacred; in ours, it is often traded like spare parts at Ladipo market.
Today, Senator Abba Moro sits comfortably in Abuja, not in Kuje prison or as a symbol of reform or remorse, but as a reminder of everything Nigerians want to move past: impunity without consequence, tragedy without justice.
A Senator Without Footprints
What has he delivered to his people in Benue South? Which landmark project bears his name?
Where is the evidence of transformation?
A senator who has spent more time trading political insults than bringing development to his district now attempts to challenge Governor Hyacinth Alia, a man whose record is being written not in press statements but in roads, hospitals, reforms, and results everywhere from Zone A, B and C.
The Audacity to Criticize
It takes a special kind of political boldness, some will call it forgetfulness, others will call it entitlement, for a man with such an unresolved legacy or stained image to criticize a governor whose greatest scandal to date is working too hard for his people.
Governor Alia is building a new Benue; while Senator Moro is still evading the shadows of his past. The contrast is unforgiving.
The Credit Belongs to Those Working, Not Those Talking
People like my humble self, who continue to demand integrity, accountability, and service-driven leadership, represent the conscience of the people. Let me also remind us that leadership is not a title, it is a duty. A burden. A responsibility made heavier by the memory of those who died under official negligence.
History Has a Long Memory
Senator Moro may occupy a powerful office, but he cannot outrun the moral weight of 2014. The tragedy is a permanent chapter in Nigeria’s democratic story, and no political posturing can erase it.
Benue is changing. Nigeria is changing.
What remains the same is this truth: A leader who once failed the nation so tragically has no moral standing to lecture those who are trying to rebuild it.
Hon. Jacob Agada, writes from Okpokwu.
