Indication has emerged that the management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) may stop the ongoing mass redeployment of corps members initially posted to some troubled areas of the north except it is approved by the Federal Government. This is also to avoid creating an impression of looming civil war in the country.
A management staff at the directorate headquarters in Abuja, who crave anonymity told LEADERSHIP that the management decided to embark on the exercise because of the situation in the country but warned that if not properly handled the scheme might stop the exercise.
He said most of the corps members are seeking for redeployment out of fear and “we cannot deny them because all of them are entitled to their safety.
“The tension this redeployment is generating if not properly handled can cause more havoc.We don’t want it to look as if the corps members are being currently attacked, although there is fear of insecurity in the country.”
The source further explained that, ”no corps members is being attacked, we don’t pray for any bad thing, no corps member was killed in Kano and all states are entitled to corps members being posted? to them, but the management decided to redeploy corps members who wish to be redeployed from the troubled states in the north.”
When LEADERSHIP visited the NYSC headquarters in Abuja, corps members were seen in their hundreds either coming to submit redeployment letters or waiting to collect their redeployment letters,? and those that applied for redeployment are mostly from northern states of the federation, but prominence were given to states such as; Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Kano, Gombe, Bauchi, Taraba, Jigawa,? Zamfara, Sokoto.
LEADERSHIP findings also revealed that corps members from other northern states that still enjoy relative peace like Niger, Benue, Kaduna and others are also taking advantage of this opportunity to seek for redeployment to other states in the southern part of the country.
But effort to ascertain the number of corps members deployed proved abortive as most staff refused to give detail, but finding shows that close to 3000 may have been deployed from various northern states.
Most corps members who spoke to LEADERSHIP however noted that they have not been attacked but that they did not feel secure because of the uprising all around them.
“We just want to make use of the opportunity so that in case of any problem, the NYSC will not say we gave them chance to live”.
A corps member from Gombe State, narrating his ordeals said “You can imagine, when one corps member wanted to buy yam, somebody told the yam seller to do him a favour because he is corper, the yam seller replied by asking what are the usefulness of corps members.”
Those from Kano added “during the last bomb blast, we were not attacked, even though our corpers’ lodge is by the road side and no corper died but we don’t know what will happen next”.