At least 47 job seekers lost more than N51.8 million to fraudsters who allegedly promised them non-existent appointments into the Cross River State local government service.
Chairman of the Cross River State Local Government Service Commission, Nsa Ekpo, disclosed this while explaining the findings of a panel that investigated irregularities surrounding the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
According to Ekpo, the victims were deceived into paying between N100,000 and N1.5 million for purported government appointments, with applicants seeking senior positions allegedly paying the highest amounts.
Some victims reportedly parted with between N1.3 million and N1.5 million after being assured that the payments would secure their appointments.
The fraudsters allegedly strengthened the scheme by issuing fake employment letters to convince applicants that they had successfully secured positions in the local government service.
Ekpo said the investigation also uncovered alleged attempts to manipulate the recruitment process by inserting relatives of some individuals into the list of candidates, including people who did not reside in Cross River.
He said whistle-blowers played a significant role in helping the panel uncover the alleged fraud, with several victims providing documents and other evidence after receiving assurances that their identities and safety would be protected.
The commission chairman said authorities were working to identify those behind the scheme for possible prosecution and other sanctions.
The 2024/2025 recruitment exercise has since been cancelled. However, Ekpo said 821 candidates from the annulled exercise had been cleared and would be retained.
He said a fresh recruitment exercise was expected to begin within two weeks, with 4,000 positions targeted in the local government service.
Ekpo assured applicants that the new exercise would not be commercialised and said the final list of successful candidates, including the 821 retained applicants, would be made public.
The move, he said, was intended to make the recruitment process transparent and prevent a repeat of the alleged fraud.
How fraudsters collected N51.8m from 47 job seekers in Cross River
