NYSC stops posting of 14,850 graduates to North

At last, the National Youth Service Corps has bowed to pressure and rescinded the decision to post 14,850 corps members to troubled northern states.

It has directed the affected corps members to report at the NYSC headquarters for redeployment to states considered safe.

A statement by the Director-General of the NYSC, Brig.-General Nnamdi Okore-Affia, in Abuja on Wednesday, directed corps members posted to Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, Kano and Kaduna states to immediately report to the NYSC headquarters for redeployment.

This came barely 24 hours after an earlier insistence by the NYSC that corps members posted to the affected areas must first report to camp before requests for redeployment could be considered.

Okore-Affia has also directed all those deployed in Yobe and Borno states to report to new orientation camps in Nasarawa and Benue states respectively.

The statement reads, “This is to inform all prospective corps members deployed to Yobe and Borno states for the 2012 Batch ‘B’ Orientation Course to note the following:

“Yobe State prospective corps members will now hold their orientation course at the Nasarawa State NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Keffi, Keffi LGA, and not as stated on their call-up letters.

“Borno State prospective corps members will undertake their orientation programme at the Benue State NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp at Wanume, Tarka LGA, and not as stated on their call-up letters.

“Date: Thursday 26th July-Thursday 16th August, 2012, as earlier published.

“In addition, all 2012 Batch ‘B’ prospective corps members deployed to Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, Kano and Kaduna states who have collected their call-up letters but are yet to report in camp should immediately report at the NYSC Directorate Headquarters, Abuja for redeployment.”

The statement is silent on the fate of those who have already reported in camp in compliance with the earlier directive.

However, a senior official of the corps confided in our correspondent that those who had complied would not be discriminated against.

“Requests by those who responded to the earlier directive to report will be given expeditious consideration because we must not send the wrong signals to those who are law-abiding,” the official who asked not to be named said.

A female youth corps member who reported in the Plateau State camp confirmed to our correspondent on the telephone that they were given re-deployment request forms yesterday.

Fourteen thousand corps members were posted to troubled northern states.

Data obtained by The Punch revealed that 1,050 corps members were posted to Borno State, the same number was posted to Yobe State while Gombe, Kano, and Kaduna states had 2,500 corps members each. Bauchi had 1,500 while 2,300 corps members were posted to Plateau State.