DG NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, has warned unsuspecting  Nigerian job seekers not to fall prey to scammers, with misleading reports that the agency is currently recruiting people, insisting that there is no iota of truth in that.

In a statement signed on behalf of the agency by the Deputy Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Mr. Isichei Osamgbi, says the general public should ignore such publications, as they have not truth in them.

The statement reads in part: “The attention of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA) has been drawn to the misinformation making the round s in the media, particularly social media platforms, that there is an ongoing recruitment exercise in the agency”.

“It is imperative to state, in the interest of the unsuspecting members of the public, that the agency has not launched any recruitment campaign of any kind at the moment; and that NIMASA is not associated with any of such advertisements being peddled on various social media platforms to defraud unsuspecting citizens seeking legitimate employment in the organisation”.

He also said that this clarification was necessitated by the recruitment advertisement purportedly floated by the NIMASA and circulated on various social media platforms, with the intention of misleading and defrauding Nigerians.

According to him, as inimical and spurious as these advertisements may be to the lives of unsuspecting and desperate job seekers in the country, the agency’s management under the leadership of Dr. Dakuku Peterside would continue to operate within the tenets of the agency’s core values of commitment, accountability, discipline and transparency in dealing with its stakeholders.

These stakeholders include Nigerians who may wish to contribute to the growth and development of the nation through employment in the agency.

Investigations show that the most common tactics of these scammers include twitter and text messages, e-mails, as well as letters inviting gullible, unsuspecting and desperate Nigerian job seekers for fake job interviews at different locations across the country claiming to be consultants to NIMASA.

It was also gathered that the Agency has informed appropriate security authorities of the activities of these unscrupulous elements who are going about peddling false information to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.

“We however appeal to members of the public, particularly job seekers, to treat any of such advertisements as fake, as the agency is currently not in the process of employing. Anyone who entertains such invitations does so at his or her own risk”.

“For the umpteen time, NIMASA as a responsible corporate citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has not commissioned or contracted any individual or group to engage in recruitment of anybody on behalf of the agency. At the appropriate time, NIMASA would advertise for available vacancies for qualified Nigerians to apply”, the statement also said emphatically.

Recall that such fake and misleading information on job vacancies in Federal Government agencies and other multinational corporations have become a major feature on some social media platforms, especially with the high rate of unemployment in the country, a development that has made many job seekers desperate and vulnerable.

Available records show that many job seekers, especially youths including male and females have lost valuable items and sometimes their lives to such invitations for job interviews.