The National President of the Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, has urged the Federal Government to scrap the National Youth Service Corps scheme if it cannot guarantee the safety of corps members across the country.
Danjuma made the call amid growing concerns over the security of corps members following reported cases of kidnappings, killings, and attacks in several parts of the country.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH on Saturday, the PTA president said parents were increasingly worried about the dangers young graduates face during the mandatory national service year.
“On behalf of parents, we are not happy with what is happening. It is painful to lose a child. It is not easy to train a child from birth until they complete university and then at NYSC, the child gets kidnapped,” he said.
Danjuma noted that since participation in the scheme is compulsory for graduates, the government has a responsibility to guarantee their safety.
“We have said it repeatedly that the government has the responsibility of ensuring the security and welfare of all Nigerians. Since they engaged these young graduates in the scheme, they must ensure the safety of our children.
“The Federal Government should ensure that governors and the security architecture of each state sign an undertaking guaranteeing the safety of corps members before they are deployed there,” he added.
He warned that if adequate protection could not be provided, the programme should be discontinued.
“If you cannot protect the lives of these children, then scrap the NYSC because the value of the scheme is already defeated if the children are not safe,” he said.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said the concerns raised by parents were legitimate and should not be ignored.
Sanusi criticised the management of the NYSC for allegedly leaving families to deal with kidnappers without sufficient institutional support.
“The concerns of the parents are absolutely right. There is no way someone would train his child up to that level, send him to NYSC, only to end up paying ransom,” he said.
Sanusi added that even if the scheme would not be scrapped, stronger security measures must be implemented to prevent corps members from being deployed to high-risk areas.
“The current security situation requires measures to ensure that nobody is posted to areas where there are security threats. NYSC should not shy away from its responsibilities and leave parents to struggle with payment of ransom,” he said.
According to him, the scheme has a duty of care toward corps members throughout the service year.
“They mobilised these young people, so their security and wellbeing should remain the responsibility of NYSC until the end of the programme.
“For NYSC to leave parents to struggle with ransom payments while waiting to see if their children are killed is quite irresponsible,” Sanusi added.
The calls followed the case of a corps member, Musa Abba, from Gusau, Zamfara State, who has reportedly remained in kidnappers’ captivity since January 9.
Abba, a graduate of Plant Science and Biotechnology from the Federal University Gusau, was abducted while travelling to Sokoto to resume his national service.
A video that surfaced online showed the corps member being beaten by bandits after his family reportedly failed to raise the N10m ransom demanded by the abductors.
Reports indicated that his family even held a burial ceremony for him on March 5.
However, the abductors later released another video showing him alive but in a weak condition.
The incident has renewed concerns about the safety of corps members across the country.
In recent years, several corps members and prospective participants have been kidnapped, attacked, or killed while travelling to orientation camps or serving in different states.
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