Akwa Ibom State government has said it would prosecute persons behind employment racketering, following complaints of extortion from prospective applicants into the state civil service.
Head of Service, HOS, Mr Effiong Essien told correspondents in Uyo on Tuesday that his office have been fighting to apprehend the syndicate and called for partnership and useful information from the public to apprehend them.
Essien expressed sadness that the scammers may have possibly been issuing fake employment papers to the unsuspecting public and assured that he would protect the privacy of people who would volunteer useful information on the syndicate.
The HOS maintained that government has not been involved in secret employment adding that recent employments had been based on the need of the service since employment opportunities remained limited.
“There are a whole lot of speculations and fake news about employment. There are also scammers all around the state in the name of employment. There is no doubt that some of them may even give fake employment letters to people.
“If you hear of such things, mention the name of the person and possibly the department so we can verify. My office would gladly want to know who has employed someone into the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service without the Head of Service knowing about it.
“I don’t have any doubt about racketeering. Let us partner, let me know the members of that racket. The public service rule is there for any civil service caught in serious misconduct. If such a person is found wanting, at the end of it, it is dismissal from service.
“I would not spare anything to take full measure to discipline anybody that is involved in it. You can inbox me privately, and I can assure you of privacy to such information.
“I have gone on air to enlighten members of the public that people should not be involved in any secret employment because there is nothing like that. Let nobody collect money from any person in the name of employment. It is fake.” He stated.
Essien announced that the service would soon be fully digitized with a team working on it since the beginning of the year adding that Governor Udom Emmanuel had shown interest in the complete digitization of the service.
The HOC explained that the process of recruiting 1,000 teachers for primary schools would soon be completed while verification for payment of gratuities for retired primary school teachers for the 2019/2020 batch would soon be done.
He mentioned that the financial involvement of gratuities including those inherited from previous administrations remained high even as the government has been working on settling more gratuities after the payment of the 2016 batch.
He commended the Governor for his prompt responses to workers needs especially the recent NUT strike and assured civil servants on the speedy developement of the civil service estate in Ibiono Ibom and Ikono Local Councils.
