At least a dozen people were killed during a recruitment drive for the Nigerian Immigration Service, according to local media on Monday.
More than 130,000 candidates applied for 1,260 jobs, local media reported, as government jobs are prized for their regular salaries and good benefits.
Four people were killed in a stampede at the recruitment center in Enugu in Nigeria's south-east.
Recruiters closed a gate to the government building where candidates were to sit an aptitude test.
There are few good employment prospects for the many thousands of people who graduate from colleges and universities each year.
The sister of one of the applicants who died at recruitment in Kaduna in Nigeria's Northern region was quoted as saying the situation facing job seeking graduates was terrible.
Four people also died in Asaba, in the Niger Delta region, during a fitness test where candidates had to run miles in the hottest part of the day.
Four people were also reported to have been crushed in a stampede in Ilorin in the central region of the country.
Other people died during fitness tests in Kaduna and in Abia and Anambra in the east, but the exact number was unclear.
Economic reforms over the last eight years have seen the civil service cut in size, but the government is still the largest single employer in Nigeria, the most populous African country, with a population of 130 million.
Source:Xinhua
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