Corps members posted to Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Bornu
and Bauchi states have asked the National Youth Service Corps to redeploy them
from these trouble states.
The corps members, who expressed
sadness as they received their call-up letters for the Batch B NYSC service
year, said they were confused as they did not know what to do due to the spate
of bombings and other forms of insecurity in these states.
Some of the corps members and their
families, who expressed their worries on various social network sites including Facebook and Twitter, said they were extremely sad and
disappointed when they received their call-up letters, deploying them to
trouble states where there is currently curfew, threats of reprisals and
censeless bombings.
Some of the comments on the social
network sites read, “We need to arise and stop the government from sentencing
us and our loved ones to death. Is our government/NYSC this heartless or simply
inhumane? We seek our immediate redeployment, we want to live in places where
we can work with peace of mind.’’
Our correspondents learnt that
authorities of the NYSC had also been under pressure from parents and
prospective corps members posted to northern states, who had been seeking
alternative posting.
Our Correspondent learnt in Abuja on
Sunday that the NYSC was already collaborating with the affected states on how
to ensure security for the corps members posted to their states.
But speaking through the Borno State
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Inuwa Bwala, in a telephone interview with
our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, the Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima,
made a case for corps members to be posted to the state.
He argued that the security situation
in the state was being exaggerated by detractors to further isolate the state
from the rest of the country.
He said, “While it is true that we
have security challenges, it is a fact that these challenges are not exclusive
to Borno State.
“We don’t have on record any attack
on visitors neither do we have any record of attacks on the NYSC camp or corps
members posted to and currently serving in Borno State.”