Haruna Danjuma, the National President of the Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, has asked the federal government to get rid of the National Youth Service Corps program if it can’t keep corps members safe all throughout the country.
Danjuma made the appeal because there were more and more reports of kidnappings, murders, and attacks on corps members in different sections of the country.
The PTA president told our reporter yesterday that parents are becoming more and more concerned about the risks young graduates face during the mandated national service year, according to Sunday PUNCH.
“We are not thrilled with what is going on on behalf of the parents. Losing a child hurts. “It’s not easy to raise a child from birth until they finish college, and then at NYSC, the child gets kidnapped,” he remarked.
Danjuma said that the government has to make sure that graduates are safe because they have to take part in the program.
“We’ve said it over and over that it’s the government’s job to keep all Nigerians safe and healthy.” They need to keep our kids secure because they hired these young grads for the program.
He also said, “The federal government should make sure that governors and the security architecture of each state sign an undertaking guaranteeing the safety of corps members before they are sent there.”
He said that the program should be stopped if it couldn’t get enough protection.
He remarked, “If you can’t keep these kids safe, then get rid of the NYSC because the program is useless if the kids aren’t safe.”
Isa Sanusi, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, also spoke and stressed that the worries of parents were real and should not be ignored.
Sanusi said that the NYSC’s management was bad since they supposedly left families to cope with kidnappers without enough help from the organization.
“The parents’ worries are completely valid. He stated, “There is no way someone would train their child to that level, send them to NYSC, and then pay a ransom.”
Sanusi said that even if the plan isn’t canceled, it needs to have better protection so that corps members don’t have to go to dangerous locations.
“The current state of security calls for steps to be taken to make sure that no one is sent to places where there are security risks. He remarked, “NYSC should not avoid its duties and leave parents to deal with paying the ransom.”
He says that the scheme has a duty of care toward corps members over the whole year of service.
“They got these young people to join, so NYSC should be in charge of their safety and well-being until the program is over.”
Sanusi said, “It’s very irresponsible for NYSC to leave parents to deal with ransom payments while they wait to see if their children are killed.”
The calls came after reports that Musa Abba, a corps member from Gusau, Zamfara State, has been held captive by kidnappers since January 9.
Abba, who graduated from the Federal University Gusau with a degree in Plant Science and Biotechnology, was kidnapped on his way to Sokoto to start his national duty.
A video that went viral online showed bandits beating up the corps member after his family allegedly couldn’t pay the N10 million ransom that the kidnappers wanted.
Reports say that his family even organized a funeral for him on March 5.
But the kidnappers eventually posted another video that showed him alive but in bad shape.
The event has raised new worries about the safety of corps members all around the country.
In the past few years, a number of corps members and people who wanted to join have been kidnapped, attacked, or killed either on their way to orientation camps or while serving in other states.
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