One of the Nigerian Army trainees from Kaduna State using Lagos State citizenship certificate
Eko Hot Blog reports that some Nigerian Army trainees from Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria, have been accused of stealing recruitment slots belonging to Lagos State.
The accusation is contained in a video that went viral on social media on Wednesday.
The video showed the northerners from Kaduna State using Lagos State citizenship certificates to enroll into the army.
When quizzed, the Nigerian Army trainees said they were indigenes of Lagos Island, Oshodi-Isolo, amongst others.
Oshodi-Isolo local government
By using Lagos State citizenship certificates, the army trainees of Kaduna descent have deprived some actual Lagos indigenes of taking the slots reserved for the state, according to critics.
In April 2021, the Nigerian Army debunked allegations that candidates from a particular zone dominated the list of those successful for recruitment, saying recruitment is based on equality of states and zones.
Then Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima, said each state got eight slots, while each of the six geographical zones got two slots.
However, in rare instances where a state did not have the required number of eligible candidates to fill its eight vacancies, the vacancy will be filled by a contiguous state from the same geopolitical zone.
Therefore, critics of the northerners, who used Lagos State citizenship certificates to enroll in the army, accused them of cheating Lagos indigenes who might have wanted to enroll.
A woman interviewing the northern trainees in the video also condemned the actions of local government areas issuing citizenship certificates to people who are not from Lagos State.
Some of them got their Certificates of Identification of Lagos State Indigene from Oshodi-Isolo local government. The certificates say they are “bonafide” residents of the area.
None of the candidates spoke Yoruba, the indigenous language of Lagos State indigenes, spurring criticisms that they were not resident in the state.
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