FIFTY-FOUR corp members evacuated from the Northern states by the Rivers State Government over recent political disturbances have canvassed a review of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme due to security concerns.The corp members, who pleaded anonymity gathered at the office of the NYSC State Coordinator, Mrs. Esther Wogbo recently, to urge the Federal Government to review the scheme and allow corp members to serve in their states of origin.One of the corp members, who was serving in Bauchi State before violence erupted due to the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, described his experience in the state as horrible especially during the April polls.He disclosed that children of about nine to 10 years were brought to the polling unit where he worked as ad hoc staff of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to vote and was mandated to allow them vote or lose his life.He expressed grief over the deplorable security situation in the state while other corp members who unanimously added their voice said the Northerners hate Southerners and called on the Federal Government to allow corp members to serve in their various states of origin.Wogbo described the situation as unfortunate attributing it to the work of some jobless youths.She, however, urged indigenes in different parts of the country to protect corp members, stressing that it is the responsibility of host communities to protect them.Wogbo noted that if the corp members feel secured, they would bring out their best and the host communities would benefit from their hard work. She further noted that when there is a feeling of insecurity, it affects the economy hence nothing is achieved.Her words:NYSC Corp members should be protected by indigenes because if they feel secured and save, they will put in their best and host communities should see Corp members as their brothers and sisters and alert them of dangers and should not be the ones to kill them. If these youths realize that their security is assured, they will not be afraid to go to any part of the country to serve because they will see the place they are posted as their homes, she added.Sixty-four corp members of the state extraction serving in Bauchi in particular were evacuated last week after several days of taking refuge in the offices of the State Security Services, along Maiduguri Road in Bauchi, before being evacuated back home on the orders of Governor Chibuike Amaechi.On the reason why the corps members were evacuated, Special Assistant to the Governor on Inter-Governmental Matters, Barrister Achinike Wobodo said, state government places high premium on the lives of its citizens no matter where they reside.Wobodo had revealed that the state government was liaising with relevant Federal Agencies to locate and evacuate more of its citizens who may be trapped in areas affected by the recent disturbances in the Northern part of the country.The state had urged the corp members to see their travail as part of services and should therefore not have ill feelings towards fellow citizens from other parts of the country resident in Rivers State.Meanwhile, tears flowed freely on Monday as the remains of the two National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members who were indigenes of Osun State murdered in Bauchi State during the post election violence were interred in their hometown, Gbongan, headquarters of Ayedaade local council of Osun State.The victims, Gbenjo Ebenezer Ayotunde with identification number BA/10B/0463 and Adeniyi Kehindde Jehleel with number BA/10B/0197 belonged to batch A corps members undergoing the one-year compulsory national service in Bauchi State where they met their untimely death.Ayotunde and Adeniyi, who were graduates of Economics Education and Banking and Finance respectively were among the nine corps members who lost their lives in a post-election violence that erupted in Bauchi State shortly after the April 16 presidential election.In line with a directive by the Federal Government and NYSC, Osun State government organised a befitting state burial for the two slain corp members in Osogbo, the state capital and Gbongan their home town.The Chief of Staff (CoS) to the governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, who represented his boss, Rauf Aregbesola at a brief lying-in -state ceremony held for the deceased at the Bola Ige House, Governors Office, Osogbo, urged the families of the deceased to take solace in God. He prayed God to enable the affected families bear the irreparable loss.Oyetola, who betrayed emotions at the lying- in- state ceremony which was witnessed by top government officials, civil servants, politicians and corps members in the state enjoined the people of the state to remain peaceful and not to retaliate the evil act.At a brief funeral service held for the deceased at St. Peters Anglican Church, Gbongan, the Olufi of Gbongan, Oba Emmanuel Oyeniyi urged the parents of corps members to leave everything to God, who he said has the power to challenge the acts of all mortals.The monarch appealed to the people of the town not to revenge on citizens of the northern extraction residing in the town to avoid ethnic differences, stressing that revenge is of the Lord.The state government also assured the families of the deceases that they would not be left alone in the moment of grief adding that adequate compensation would be paid them at an appropriate time.The south-west zonal Director of NYSC, Mrs Clara Babatunde, who represented the Director General of the NYSC, Brig. Ismaila Tsiga, assured that the perpetrators of the killings would not go unpunished.The state Deputy Governor, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, condoled with the families of the slain Corpers, adding that their death was heroic and the nation would not forget them.She promised that the state government would try its best to assist the families of the two slain corpers who were from the state.
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