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rescinded the decision to post 14,850 corps members to troubled northern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.
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