The House of Representatives on Thursday passed an order suspending further drafting of fresh graduates to Plateau State to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme in the state..
This order came in the wake of the devastating violence that claimed hundreds of lives in a neighbourhood of Jos, the state capital, last Sunday.
The legislative resolution, the second in the week after the massacre, also called on the management of the NYSC to re-deploy serving corps members in Plateau to neighbouring states, even as the government attempts to restore peace to the area.
Saving the people
“I am not a pessimist,” said Ekperikpe Ekpo, a member from Akwa Ibom state, who sponsored the resolution. “But we cannot say as of now, total peace has returned to Jos. We have to find a way to save these people in the event of reprisal attacks.”
The resolution will empower calls from Nigerians who have asked that youth corps members be re-assigned from Plateau state.
However, a few members of the House of Representatives, mostly from the affected state, opposed the proposal. They complained that such an order will imply a failure of the government and a total breakdown of law and order in Plateau state.
Leo Dilkon, who represents Pashkin, Kanke and Kanam Local government areas of the state, said the crisis was concentrated around Jos, and it will be undue punishment on the rest of the state if the youths are withdrawn.
Support for motion
But the motion gathered rapid support after the mention of several cases of slain corps members in several parts of the north including Grace Ushang, whose murder in Borno State last year drew international condemnation, and three members of the scheme who died during the December 2008 fighting in Plateau State.
In the aftermath of such deaths, the government has been advised to reconsider the continued relevance of the scheme and the NYSC has been urged to restrict its posting to certain states.
After the killings of last Sunday, the NYSC Director General, Maharazu Tsiga, reportedly announced that his office will reassign serving members from the state pending the restoration of normalcy.
Lawmakers said although they are aware of the decision, they will push for a legislative resolution to compel the director general to act fast.
“I will be surprised if anyone will oppose the fact that the situation in Plateau poses a clear and present danger, said Patrick Obahiagbon, who represents Oredo in Edo state. “Whether there are newspaper reports that they will be redeployed or not, we have to rise up and make it known that this parliament says no. We cannot send our brothers and sisters to go and pay the ultimate price.”
Women in black
Meanwhile, hundreds of Plateau women clad in black dresses and placards showed up at the premises of the National Assembly, where they held hands, singing sombre songs to protest the latest killings.
The women, who said they will seek the intervention of the United Nations (UN) if they fail to get justice from the Nigerian government, called on the acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, to remove the current General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, located in Jos, Plateau State, who has been accused of negligence as the crisis erupted.
“We want a change of the security chiefs in Plateau State, they have not guaranteed any security on us, we have lost confidence in them,” the group’s spokesperson and its secretary general, Zipporah Kpamor, said.
The women also accused the Chief of Army Staff, Abdurahman Danbazzau, as well as the Bauchi State government of complicity in the mayhem in Jos.
“If the FG cannot stop the premeditated genocide and ensure peace in the state, then we will be compelled to go to the United Nations (UN) for intervention on the matter,” Ms. Kpamor said.
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