Akwa Ibom reads riot act to employment racketeers

Akwa Ibom State Government has warned scammers of job seekers in the state to desist forthwith, saying it has put in place machinery to prosecute any person caught in such acts.

Head of Service, Mr. Effiong Essien, handed down the warning while fielding questions from newsmen in his office, yesterday, in Uyo.

According to him, his office has been fighting to apprehend the syndicate. He called for partnership and useful information from the public to apprehend culprits.

Essien expressed sadness that scammers had been issuing fake employment papers to unsuspecting members of the public in the state, assuring that he would protect the privacy of people who volunteered useful information on the syndicate.

The HoS maintained that the government had not been involved in secret employment, adding that recent employment had been based on the need for the service.

“I have always said whenever someone says there is secret employment, by whatever means possible, get a photocopy of such a letter of employment and I will tell if it is a government employee or fake letter of employment.

“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.”

He announced that the service would soon be fully digitised, adding that Governor Udom Emmanuel had shown interest in the process.