Chairman House Committee on Youth Development Meets With NYSC Over Abduction Of Corps Members In Zamfara

As the nation continues to grapple with the issue of insecurity, the House of Representatives has held a meeting with the Director-General of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) on eight Corps Members who were recently kidnapped in Zamfara State.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Youth Development, Rep. Martins Esin, said the meeting became imperative as the House was worried by the situation.
He explained that the House wants to know what the NYSC scheme was doing towards the release of the corps members; even as he added that the scheme has recorded successes in its fifty years of existence.
Rep. Esin noted that anything that brings Nigerians together, such as the scheme, must be encouraged.
He therefore urged the NYSC to continue the good work of unifying Nigerians and to always keep their eyes on the ball.

“This year house of Representatives is very open to supporting the scheme”, he said.
According to him, he was very confident that with the efforts and collaborations being made, the kidnapped Corps Members would soon be reunited with their family.
He asked the NYSC should arrange a rehabilitation for the perspective corps members when released eventually.
“Going forward, what has happened has happened. But we need to make sure that travel advice is issued to educate corps members more so that this won’t happen again”, Rep. Esin said.
Rep. Clement Jimboh from Akwa Ibom state, who said he does not doubt the efforts of the security agencies in Nigeria to do their best, called for synergy between the security agencies to speed up the release of the Corps members.

He also wants a dedicated bus to be provided to convey prospective corps Members to the camps during orientation.

Hon Bello Hassan Shinkafi, from Zamfara, said that he was not aware of the kidnap issue.
He pointed out that security issues are not limited to northern Nigeria alone.
For Hon Jeremiah Umaru, sorted clarifications on insurance cover for Corps members and plans to increase the allowance of Corps members.
He said” We are aware that NYSC stopped posting people to some states due to security reasons. Why were these posted?”

The Director General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Yusha’u Ahmed, while responding to the questions said that the scheme has been interacting with the kidnappers and assured the House that they will soon be released.
He said that all the security agencies are working together in the effort to secure their release.
“We have full synergy between the agencies. All these things work together. The only problem is information. Once information is out we will have a seamless situation. On the issue of NYSC providing busses might not be possible. It would be subject to budgetary allocation. We will get there as more proactive measures will be put in place”, the DG said.

He also disclosed that three of the prospective corps members had earlier escaped from the kidnappers while one who was shot was released and is receiving treatment.
He said that the Corps members are insured and are fed well.
The DG also announced that there are plans to increase the allowances of corps members but that the scheme was waiting for the increase in the minimum wage by the federal government.

He therefore solicited the cooperation of the National Assembly for the NYSC Trust Fund which will enable the scheme to empower corps members after the compulsory one-year national service.
Brig. Gen. Yusha’u reiterated the advice for corps members to always avoid night travels.
He added that the parents of the kidnapped corps members were happy with efforts made towards the release of their children.
The Committee resolved that the NYSC management team visit the families of the corps members to empathise with them.

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