Security: corps members will not be posted to volatile areas in Plateau – official

No member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), serving in Plateau would be posted to crises-ridden areas, Mr Abdulsalam Alhassan, the state’s coordinator, has said.

Alhassan told our correspondent on Monday in Mangu that the measure became necessary to ensure that no corps member became a victim of attacks on rural communities.

“In our bid to protect the corps members, we have resolved that no one will be posted to volatile areas.

“We have also resolved that corps members will only be posted to local governments considered safe and reachable.

“We are working closely with the Department of State Security Service; we have requested clarifications in respect of areas considered safe ahead of the postings after the ongoing orientation exercise,” he said.

He said that most of the postings would be restricted to local government headquarters to ease access to corps members, if the need arose.

“Aside volatile areas, we shall not post corps members to villages that are not accessible because we need to keep in constant touch with them throughout the service year,” he said.

He said that corps members serving in Bokkos, Barkin-Ladi, Mangu, Riyom and parts of Jos South Local Governments were evacuated to safety during the various attacks that hit those areas in June.

“We later deployed the corps members to areas considered safer,” he said.

Alhassan said that NYSC was collaborating with various security agencies to keep constant surveillance on corps members’ lodges across the state.

The coordinator assured parents and guidance, whose children and wards are serving in Plateau, of the safety of the corps members, and thanked the state government for the steady support in that regard.