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File photo: Corps members
A non-profit organisation in Akwa Ibom State, Open Forum Care for Humanity Foundation, has appealed to both the State and Federal Governments to offer automatic employment to eight former members of the National Youth Service Corps who were kidnapped while en route to their place of assignment.
The affected NYSC members were abducted in Zamfara State on August 17, 2023, en route to Sokoto State for the mandatory one-year national service year.
They were released at different times by their captors and have since reunited with their families in Akwa Ibom.
Making the plea during a press conference which was attended by some of the affected NYSC members in Uyo, on Thursday, the President and Founder of the group, Matthew Okono, said such an appeal became necessary to ease their post-traumatic experience.
He commended President Bola Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno and the NYSC for their role in securing the release of the abductees and called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to formally receive the rescued graduates and offer them automatic employment in the state civil service.
“We want to use this opportunity to thank the President, Bola Tinubu, and our governor and indeed the DG of NYSC for the part they played in the release of the corpers and to appeal to both the federal and Akwa Ibom State government to offer automatic employment to esse their post-traumatic experiences,” Okono stated
He also advocated for reforms in the NYSC scheme, stating, “The Federal Government should look into making the NYSC scheme more pro-development and safer, to add more value to nation-building.”
One of the former NYSC members, Solomon Daniel, who spent one year in the kidnappers’ den said he was separated from his colleagues for refusing to pay the ransom as his parents could not afford it.
He added that he was unable to pass stool for three months during his captivity.
“I went through a lot. I chewed leaves to survive and drank extremely dirty water. I was tortured daily from morning until evening. I could not defecate or urinate for three months. I thought I was going to die,” he recounted
Daniel, who was considered the “most stubborn” because of his refusal to agree to the kidnappers’ ransom demands, described how he was transported on a motorcycle from Zamfara to Kaduna State through bush tracks adding that he spent several months guarded by over 10 heavily armed men before being rescued by security operatives after a year in captivity.
Also, another ex-corps member, Victoria Bassey, said, “I never believed I could survive under such terrible conditions. Even during our menstrual periods, we couldn’t bathe. We drank flood water to stay alive.”
Another of the eight abducted corps members, Etim Bassey, recalled that their bus was intercepted at a bad spot in Zamfara, which they initially mistook for a checkpoint.
“The area was blocked with logs of wood and manned by armed men in military uniforms, who then ordered them into the forest, he said.
The rescued corps members collectively expressed their gratitude to the President, Director-General of NYSC, General Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed, Governor Umo Eno, security operatives, and other well-meaning Nigerians for their efforts in securing their freedom.
They also appealed for employment opportunities and any form of assistance that the State and Federal Government could extend to help heal their trauma.
