The National President of the Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, has urged the Federal Government to cancel the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme if it cannot ensure the safety of corps members across the country.
Danjuma made the request amid mounting fears about corps members’ security following reports of kidnappings, killings, and attacks around the country.
The PTA president stated on Saturday that parents were increasingly concerned about the dangers that young graduates confront during their mandated 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 mentioned 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 issued a warning that if adequate protection could not be provided, the program 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, stated that the concerns raised by parents were legitimate and should not be ignored.
Sanusi berated 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 also stated that even if the scheme were not to 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 NYSC has a duty of care toward corps members throughout the service year.
“They mobilized these young people, so their security and wellbeing should remain the responsibility of NYSC until the end of the program.
“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 comments came in response to the case of Musa Abba, a corps member from Gusau in Zamfara State, who has apparently been held captive by kidnappers since January 9.
Abba, a plant science and biotechnology graduate from the Federal University of Gusau, was kidnapped while on his way to Sokoto to resume national duty.
A video leaked online showing the corps member being assaulted by criminals after his family allegedly failed to raise the N10 million ransom demanded by the abductors.
According to reports, his family attended a burial ceremony for him on March 5.
However, the abductors later posted another video showing him alive but in poor health.
The event has sparked new concerns about the safety of corps members across the country.
In recent years, some corps members and potential participants have been kidnapped, attacked, or killed while en route to orientation camps or serving in other states.
