NYSC silence over abducted Oyo corps members insensitive — Retired Perm Sec

By Adeola Badru

IBADAN — A retired Permanent Secretary in the Osun State Civil Service, Mr Olusola Bolaji, has criticised what he described as the silence of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, over the abduction of 20 prospective corps members from Oyo State.

Bolaji, who spoke in an interview with Vanguard in Ibadan on Wednesday, said the NYSC should demonstrate greater concern for the safety and welfare of the affected graduates.

The prospective corps members were reportedly travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in the South-East and South-South when gunmen attacked the buses conveying them in Imo State.

The incident has raised concerns among the families of the affected graduates and prompted calls for urgent efforts to secure their safe release.

Reacting to the development, Bolaji said the NYSC, as the agency responsible for mobilising and deploying graduates for national service, should be concerned about the welfare of prospective corps members travelling to their orientation camps.

“The silence of the NYSC on this matter is insensitive and very bad. These are prospective corps members who were travelling to their orientation camps when they were abducted,” he said.

“The NYSC should be concerned about their safety and should be seen to be doing something about the situation.”

He said the incident also raised questions about the arrangements for the movement of prospective corps members, particularly those travelling long distances to their designated orientation camps.

According to him, security considerations should form part of the planning process whenever graduates are deployed to locations outside their states of residence.

“When you mobilise young graduates to serve their country, you also have a responsibility to their welfare. You cannot simply mobilise them, send them on the road and, when something terrible happens to them, maintain silence,” Bolaji said.

He urged the NYSC, security agencies and state governments to strengthen coordination and assess the security situation along routes commonly used by prospective corps members.

“There should be proper coordination between the NYSC and the security agencies. Before these young people embark on such journeys, there should be an assessment of the security situation along the routes they are expected to travel,” he said.

Bolaji also appealed to the authorities to intensify efforts to secure the safe release of the abducted graduates, while urging them to ensure that affected families were not left to bear the burden of the incident alone.

“The government cannot continue to leave families to face these situations alone. These are young Nigerians who are going to serve the country,” he said.

He said the incident should also prompt a review of the existing arrangements for transporting prospective corps members to orientation camps.

According to him, the immediate priority should be the safe return of the abducted graduates, after which the authorities should examine what went wrong and introduce measures to reduce the risk of similar incidents.

The attack reportedly occurred around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State, when gunmen attacked two buses conveying prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

Reports that the abductors had demanded ransom have also heightened anxiety among the families of the affected graduates.

Bolaji called for improved communication between the NYSC and the families of the abducted graduates, noting that security concerns should not prevent the authorities from providing appropriate updates.

“Even if the NYSC cannot disclose operational details because of security considerations, there should be communication. Silence creates more anxiety,” he said.

He maintained that the welfare and security of prospective corps members should remain central to the administration of the national service scheme.

“These young people are going to serve Nigeria. They deserve protection. The NYSC must demonstrate that their lives matter and that the organisation will not abandon them when they face danger,” Bolaji said.

He urged the Federal Government, NYSC and security agencies to intensify efforts to secure the safe release of the abducted graduates and subsequently review security arrangements for the movement of prospective corps members across the country.

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