The House of Representatives has met with the Director General of the National Youths Service Corps over the kidnapping of eight Corps members in Zamfara state, northern Nigeria.
The meeting was called by the House committee on Youths.
The Chairman of the committee, Hon Martins Esin, said that the meeting became imperative as the House was worried by the situation.
He said that House wants to know what the NYSC scheme was doing towards the release of the corps members.
He said that the NYSC has recorded successes in its fifty years of existence notingh that anything that brings Nigerians together, such as the scheme, must be encourage but urged the NYSC “to always keep their eyes on the ball.”
He said that he was very confident that with the efforts and collaborations being made, the kidnapped Corps Members would soon be reunited with the family.
He noted that 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 advises are issued to educate corps members more so that this won’t happen again,” Hon Esin said.
Members of the Committee also posed some questions to the DG.
The Representative from Akwa Ibom state, Hon Clement Jimboh called for synergy between the security agencies to speed up the release of the Corps members saying he has no doubt about the efforts of the security agencies in Nigeria.
He also called for a dedicated bus to be provided to convey prospective corps Members to the camps during orientation.
For Hon Jeremiah Umoru, he sorts clarifications on insurance cover for Corps members and plans to increase allowance of corps members.
He said that “We are aware that NYSC stopped posting people to some states due to security reasons. Why were these ones posted?”
The Director General of the NYSC, Brig Gen 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 they 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 said that three of the perspective corps members had earlier escaped from the kidnappers while one that 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 allowance of corps members but that the scheme was waiting for the increase in minimum wage by the federal government.
He solicited for the corporation 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 visits the families of the corps members to empathize with them.
The committee also received a brief of all the efforts and activities so far made by the NYSC.
