There was pandemonium in Yenagoa metropolis, Bayelsa State, on Saturday, as concerned parents and guardians, took to the streets to protest the posting of their children and wards to the North by the National Youth Service Corps.
The grouse of the protesters, who led processsion through the popular Yenagoa-Mbiama Road said they were apprehensive that their children were going on a mission of no return.
They said since Boko Haram unleashed mayhem on the country, particularly in the Northern part of the country, their youths had been murdered in cold blood.
They were unanimous in concluding that sending their children to the North was tantamount to a suicide mission.
They feared that the insurgents were on the loose, killing with reckless abandon, saying their actions were to forestall further calamities for their children.
The protesting parents, therefore, asked the relevant authorities and the NYSC to review the posting without hesitation.
The protesters, who vowed they would not stop their protest until the review of the posting, said they had invested heavily in their children to allow them to be wasted like animals by the unrepentant insurgents in the North.
They called on the Federal and State Governments to intervene in their collective concerns and prevail on the NYSC authorities to drop the idea.
Though they lauded the scheme because it unified Nigerians, they insisted that the current unabated insecurity in the North had compelled them to reject the postings.
The protesters, led by the National Women Leader, United for Goodluck Success Campaign, Mrs. Favour Alafuro, said many of their youths were murdered in the North in the past and that they had yet to see their corpses.
Alafuro said it was curious that over 95 per cent of youths who graduated from the state-owned Niger Delta University, were posted to the North.
Shealleged that the intention was to decimate their youths.
Alafuro said, “It is said that security is everybody’s business. I want to remind Nigerians that a few years ago, the Niger Delta youths sent to the North, some of them were killed in cold blood.
“Up till now we are protesting, many corpses have not been found.
“Just recently, over 200 Chibok girls abducted by the terror group, Boko Haram, have yet to be found. Nigerians have done all they could, yet the children have not been found. Apart from that, the insurgents have wreaked havoc in many states. It is against this backdrop that we are saying no to this current posting. We feel it is a trap to decimate our children.
“We are saying no, our children are not going to avoid war. When the region is safe, we have no reason to object to the posting. Unfortunately, the North, including the Federal Capital Territory is unsafe.
“We even heard that Boko Haram had planned with some drivers to kidnap corps members. It will be foolhardy to allow our children to go to the North for them to be slaughtered.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
It is a shame that these kids were posted to the north in the first instance.
ReplyDeleteGod will judge the evil doers of this great nation! God will judge!
They must go there
ReplyDeleteIf those heartless leaders do not have respect for others' children, the parents have the right not to allow their children going to danger zone. Anybody that allow his/her son or daughter to accept such senseless postings will be blamed for any bad thing that may, I pray Allah does not allow bad thing to happen.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what was the contributions of the FG through NYSC to the man that lost his wife in Bauchi last time? Or other people children are sacrificial animals while those destroying the country protect their own children?