Two members of the National Youth Service Corps who were part of 2014 Batch C corps members deployed to Edo State died during the year.
Youth Corpers and Oshiomhole
The dead corps members are – Emokpaire Joy Oshuwa and Ayansina David.
This was disclosed by Governor Adams Oshiomhole while declaring the 2014 Batch C service year closed.
Represented by the state’s Commissioner for Education, Gideon Obhakhan, Oshiomhole said a total of 2,476 corps member posted to the state successfully completed their service year.
The governor described the NYSC as a beacon of hope for the development of Nigeria and praised corps members who embarked on various grassroot projects in some communities in the state.
He said, “The year must have been exciting and equally challenging to those of you who strived to imprint you names in the proverbial sands of time by initiating laudable programmes that have direct bearing on the grassroot populace. I am particularly impressed by the impact made by the 2014 batch C corps member through community development projects embarked on.
“The NYSC scheme has greatly enhanced our nation’s unity. It is indeed a beacon of hope and indispensable factor in our national development.
“The youth as future leaders determine the socio-economic development of any nation and its high level population which makes it a fertile business soil for the proactive and adventurous youth.”
Sporadic shootings was witnessed around 10:30am Saturday in Ozuaha community in Ikwerre Local Government Area. Thugs who had barricaded the road into the town, opened fire on a team of policemen and military police escorting Corps members to their polling unit.
The gun duel which lasted for about 25 minutes, has since left the town looking like a ghostyard. According to a police officer who helped brought the situation under control, the armed thugs advanced towards Ubima, hometown of governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi.
As a result of the development, the corpers and electoral materials were kept in several buses, preparing to leave the community. Our correspondent who arrived the area 5 minutes after the gun duel, saw pieces of shattered ballot boxes on the major road leading into the town. Tension was still very high when our correspondent left the area 30 minutes later.
Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, Thursday disclosed that a total of 134,000 corps members has been selected and trained by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the March 28 and April 11 general elections.
Brigadier-General Olawumi who assured parents and guardians of their children and wards safety said the scheme would not compromise its efforts to ensuring safety of its corps members before, during and after the 2015 general elections.
Olawumi stated this in Benin at the opening ceremony of the NYSC management conference.The NYSC DG warned that the scheme would not tolerate any form of misconduct or bias on the part of the corps members during the polls.
He noted that the theme for the conference – Fulfilling the Mandate of the Scheme in the Face of Current Challenges, was apt as issues, such as insecurity, rejection of corps members in places of primary assignment, funding and inadequate infrastructure, posed critical challenges to the scheme.
He said, “The scheme is fully prepared for the national assignment, as all participating corps members have been adequately trained to competently play their roles. We have equally put in place necessary security measures for their safety.
“It is hoped that this conference will brainstorm on some of these challenges and come up with strategies that will enhance our performance in the next one year.”
Governor Adams Oshiomhole who declared the conference open said March’s general election would be the toughest in the country since the last 16 years.
Oshiomhole urged the corp members not to be compromised by desperate politicians who do not want the votes to count.
He said, “This is the toughest election Nigeria will have in the last 16 years. We have a political class who if they have the opportunity they would bribe God. The corpers will require God help to resist these desperate politicians who don’t want the votes to count.
“The corpers must find sufficient encouragement in the fact that the issue at stake is not the future of those seeking power but actually the future of those who are not seeking power particularly the younger ones. Everyday that is mismanaged is opportunity lost. The corpers must understand that what is at stake is not meager money. It is much more than that.”
A 20-year old commercial motorcycle operator rider, Tumi Ayileka, is currently cooling his heels at the Ondo State Police Command after he was arrested for allegedly raping a pregnant woman currently observing her National Youth Service Corps scheme in the state.
Rapist
The incident occurred at Imoru, in Ose Local Government Area, when the victim, (names withheld) boarded a motor bike on her way to her residence.
The suspect was said to have veered off the road, dragged the pregnant woman into the bush and raped her.
Confessing to the crime at the police command where he was paraded, Ayileka said he did not know what came over him while he carried the lady on his bike.
He said it was his first time of raping anyone, adding that he felt a sense of remorse after the act and had to take his victim home after.
He said, “She approached me around 7.p.m at Ifon that I should take her to Imoru community where she serves and I obliged after agreeing to pay N500.
“On our away going, I don’t know the spirit that fell on me and I don’t know when I rode her inside the bush and had carnal knowledge of her.
“Immediately after that incident, the spirit went off and I was ashamed of myself, I didn’t know she was pregnant before and I even took her home. Later on, she reported to the police station and I was arrested.
“I didn’t know the spirit that fell on me because I have never done that before.”
Ayileka was one of the 27 suspected criminals paraded by the State Commissioner of Police, Isaac Eke during his monthly press conference held in Akure, the State Capital.
Eke who confirmed the incident, said the rapist dragged her into the bush and “forcefully and unlawfully had carnal knowledge of her.”
ABUJA—THE House of Representatives, yesterday, began a probe into the alleged N4,000 to be collected by the management of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, as registration fee from corps members.
Tambuwal and the others
Also, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Centre, NFIC, Bill scaled through third reading in the House.
The House, based on the allegation, urged NYSC to suspend forthwith the policy requiring prospective NYSC members to pay the amount with effect from 2015 before accessing their call-up letters.
Hassan Saleh (PDP, Benue), who sponsored the motion, expressed concern over “recent advertorials in some national newspapers that with effect from 2015, corps members will be required to register online with a fee of N4,000 to be able to access their call-up letters as an alternative to going to their various schools to collect the letters.”
He said: “As laudable as the idea of sending call-up letters through the internet may be, the decision requiring fresh graduates to cough out N4,000 to access letters appears insensitive and exploitative.”
However, just as the presiding officer, Emeka Ihedioha was about calling for voice vote on the matter, Uzo Azubuike (PDP, Abia), came up with a Point of Order, saying the Public Petitions Committee, which he chairs, was already on the matter.
After this observation, Ihedioha called on the Chairman, Rules and Business Committee, Albert Sam-Tsokwa (PDP, Taraba) to guide the House.
Sam-Tsokwa explained that since the public petitions committee had began investigating the matter, the honourable thing to do was for the motion to be withdrawn.
Ihedioha ruled that Commi-ttee on Youth Development and the sponsor of the motion be invited to be part of the panel that will conduct a session on the matter.
NFIC Bill
Also, a bill that seeks to establish NFIC, yesterday, passed third reading at the House of Representatives.
Moving a motion for its third reading, House Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, said when established, NFIC would be responsible for receiving, requesting, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence reports and other information to law enforcement, security, intelligence agencies and other relevant authorities.
Majority of the lawmakers voted in favour of passing the bill for third reading.
The House had last Wednesday adopted a report of the Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, which recommended establishment of the centre.
Subsequently, the House had on Thursday raised a six-man committee to meet with the Senate with a view to harmonising the positions of the two chambers on the adopted report.
The harmonisation committee would be led by Sam-Tsokwa, while members of the committee included Jagaba Adams Jagaba, Emmanuel Udende, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeju with two other lawmakers.
The committee was given two weeks within which it should meet with the Senate and get back to the House.
The National Youth Service Corps has defended its online registration for corps members saying the computerization would ease the rigorous processes involved in the collection of call-up letters.
The NYSC specifically doused insinuations concerning the N4,000 charge during registration which it said was for the benefits of the new platform.
The full computerization of the mobilization process beginning with the 2014 Batch ‘C’ mobilization exercise was endorsed at the 2014 NYSC annual management conference held in Calabar.
The exercise is being handled by Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, the same company handling online registration for WAEC and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
The Director of Corps Mobilization in NYSC, Mr. Anthony Ani, however told journalists on Friday in Abuja that while the innovation would not bring about job losses for staff, it was optional for people who still want to be traveling long distances to schools where they graduated to get their call-up letters.
He said, “Every year, NYSC mobilizes over 300,000 corps members including those who went on part time, even though they don’t serve. Before orientation, every prospective corp member has to pass through a long process including traveling to collect call-up letters. Sometimes many corps members have died while traveling to get their call-up letters and most times school officials may not be there.
“Coming to camp, you meet long queues during registration while others bring fake call-up letters. Some prospective corps members change their dates of birth because they want to serve and get discharge certificate. Some institutions are admitting students without passing through JAMB and enfolding them into unaccredited courses. In one particular institution, we mobilized about 9,000 from one institution and we asked: what is happening? We reported to NBTE and sanity was restored. So if you’re having problems in any of these, you will be notified through SMS or email.”
According to him, the NYSC management looked into these and decided to computerize the whole process which started in 2012 after a thorough bidding process through Private Public Partnership at the cost of N830 million adding that 49 companies tendered proposals durning the opening of the bidding process.
nt Military Task Force (JTF), popularly called ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ have rescued four members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who were kidnapped last Thursday, at Abonnema, headquarters of Akuku-Toru local government area of Rivers State.
Operatives of the JTF, also assisted by men of the state command of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), at the weekend rescued two widows, Mrs. Mary Bob and Mrs. Comfort Bob from the hands of their abductors.
This was even as the men of the VGN have arrested a suspected kidnapper, Gift James, who was alleged to be involved in the abduction of the two widows and wives of late Thompson Bob of Ihuaba community of Ahoada East local government area of the state.
Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Akuku-Toru local government area, Hon. Charles Benibo, who confirmed the rescue of the four NYSC members, said no ransom was paid before they were rescued.
Also, speaking with newsmen at Ahoada town, headquarters of Ahoada-East local government area , the commandant of the VGN in Ahoada-East, Mr. Justine Ayah, said nine suspected kidnappers had on May 25, 2014, invaded the residence of late Bob in Ihuaba community at about 3 am and whisked away the two widows, Mrs. Mary and Mrs. Comfort Thompson Bob.
Ayah disclosed that the kidnappers had asked the family of their victims for a N20 million ransom and added that the hoodlums only reduced the ransom to N18 million when the family of their victims maintained that they could only pay N3 million for the late Bob’s widows to be released.
Explaining that his men were grounded in 23 local government areas of the state, the commandant stated that they were able to discover that the kidnappers were from the same community with the widows.
BENIN — A National Youth Service Corps member in Asaba, Delta State, Mr. Osaro Edeghonghon, was weekend murdered by unknown assailants at Ekpoma, the administrative headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
Gunmen
He was allegedly murdered at a drinking spot along the Benin-Auchi road at about 9.00 am.
The killing of Edeghonghon came on the heels of the murder of an aide to the Chairman of Esan‑West Local Government Area by a woman two weeks ago at the same drinking spot.
Vanguard learnt that the late NYSC member was accosted by his assailants while making his exit from the beer parlour and sensing dangers, he took to his heels, but was pursued by his assailants who caught up with him before raining bullets on him.
He was thereafter left to die in the pool of his blood.
However, his father, Mr. Patrick Edeghonghon had accused the police of handling the case in a shoddy way and alleged that he was prevented from seeing a suspect arrested in connection with the murder.
He, therefore, appealed to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Folusho Adebanjo, to intervene in the matter to ensure that justice was done.
