17 Fake NYSC Members Arrested

Not less than Seventeen fake members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has been arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

They were picked up at the NYSC Orientation Camp at Kubwa, Abuja, on Thursday evening while they were posing and taking pictures outside the camp during the passing-out ceremony. 

In a statement made available, the commission said its operatives stormed the camp based on intelligence reports and arrested the suspects comprising eight females and nine males.

It said preliminary investigation revealed that 15 of the suspects claimed to have enrolled in degree courses run by consultancy services in the University of Calabar (6), University of Jos (6), Ebonyi State University (1), Federal University of Technology, Owerri (1) and Crown Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti (1).

One of the fake corps members, the commission noted, never attended any university, but said she was desirous of getting a discharge certificate. Another suspect, a young man, impersonated his sister, a genuine corps member who was receiving medical treatment abroad, in order to collect her discharge certificate. 

At various public fora, the ICPC chairman, Mr Ekpo Nta, has warned parents, guardians and young students seeking admission into universities and other tertiary institutions of learning to ensure that their proposed courses were approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other regulatory bodies.

This brings to 26, the total number of fake corps members arrested by ICPC this year as nine others were arrested in May. Similarly, the Department of State Security had on September 19, 2013 paraded a fake NYSC syndicate in Abuja.

The commission warned employers, parents and guardians to confirm from the NYSC if they were suspicious of any person submitting call-up letters, posting letters, discharged and exemption certificates.

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Photos: NYSC Member Donates Healthcare Facility To Community In FCT

Despite calls from certain quarters that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) be scrapped, corps members are still making their presence felt in the communities where they are posted and one of such persons is Okeke Kanayo, a medical doctor presently serving in Kwali Area Council of the FCT.

The bespectacled doctor against all odds, built a healthcare center valued at N3.9 million in Fula community of the council.

Speaking at the commissioning yesterday, Kanayo said the health center, which has five rooms including a consulting room, waiting room, nurses’ station, dispensary room, emergency and recovery room, would bring some respite to people of the community who often had to travel long distances to access medical care.

Commissioning the project, chairman of The council, Mr. Joseph Shazin Kwali, assured all present of the protection and sustainability of the project.

Represented by the supervisory councilor for Works and Housing, Mr Danjuma Dauda, the chairman offered immediate employment to the corps member after the completion of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and urged the authorities to bestow an award on him for the nobel gesture.

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Photo: NYSC member on uniform grabs an active Soldier on Uniform in fight.

Looking critically at the picture you will see it looks more like a pose judging by the reaction of everyone in that vicinity.

But imagining this was a true life event, and the Corper actually did that, that would have been pure grabbing of one's balls.S Some said he must have taken something or better still, smoked something that makes him the most high.

We are all aware of how ruthless a soldier is outside unform, not to talk of fully clothed. That man would have been beaten blue-black.

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NSCDC arrests 87 fake corps members in Nasarawa

Men of the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Nasarawa State on Tuesday arrested 87 fake corps members. It was gathered that the arrest was made at a hotel in a town in Nassarawa State, where the fake corps members had gathered to collect discharge certificates.

The Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC, Mr. Soji Alabi, told Daily Trust that the operation which lasted an hour, followed a tip off.

“Our men have been monitoring activities at the hotel. We targeted that day, and arrested 87 fake corps members”, he said.

He said the ceremony was taking place at the same time the NYSC was issuing out discharge certificates to genuine corps members of the state in Keffi.

Alabi said, “Nobody could have imagined that, that kind of thing was going on there.”

He said no member of the syndicate has been arrested, adding, “They are still at large, but investigation into the matter is on-going”.

Alabi, who said the fake corps members paid between N120 and N150 each for the discharge certificates, added that most of them were drop-outs.

He further said that the command has transferred the fake corps members to its headquarters in Abuja for prosecution.

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Court turns down request for ex-NYSC member to strip

OSOGBO-An ex- corps member, who alleged that an Osun monarch raped her, was Tuesrday, requested to remove her pants in the Chambers of the judge. According to reports, this request by the defence counsel, Mr Taofeek Tewogbade led to an uproar in the courtroom.

Tewogbade said that his request was to enable him and other counsel see the bruises she sustained on her private part as a result of the alleged rape.

The state prosecuting counsel, Mr Biodun Badeora, objected to the request and prayed the court to call the defence counsel to order, adding that the request was intended to insult the raped victim.

Badeora said that the medical doctor, who examined the victim gave evidence before the court, and wondered why the defence counsel wanted to examine the victim by himself.

The prosecuting counsel said: “She cannot exhibit nudity in court.”

The request of the defence counsel was overruled by the judge, Justice Jide Falola, who said that there was no reason for such an examination.

The alleged rape victim also said that she did not receive any gift or bargained to collect N50,000 from the monarch.

When cross examined by the Defence Counsel, Tewogbade, the ex-corps member said that the monarch, Oba Adebukola Alli, threw a bundle of N200 notes at her.

She said: “But l refused to take the money, l did not even know the actual amount, all l knew was that it was a bundle of N200 notes, but he forced himself in, in spite of my refusal.”

Earlier, Tewogbade had put it to the girl that there wouldn’t have been any scandal if the monarch had given her N50,000, a suggestion she rejected.

She however, agreed that prior to the date of the incident, the monarch visited her in the hospital when she was sick, but denied that the monarch paid her hospital bill or bought her a telephone handset.

Falola adjourned the case to May 2, for defence’s address.

Vanguard Nigeria

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How Osun monarch raped me –Ex-corps member tells court

Hearing continued yesterday at an Osogbo High Court on the case of an alleged rape of 23-year-old Helen Okpara, who was a National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) member by a traditional ruler in Osun State, Oba Adebukola Alli, the Alowa of Ilowa in Obokun local government area of the state. The victim revealed how the monarch raped and bruised her private part.

“The monarch came over me and I started panicking and ran into a toilet where he started struggling with my clothes and pulled it off. He collected my clothes and said he was going to soak them in water. He came inside the room and switched off the light, he struggled with me on bed and that was how he raped me. I kept shouting but the Oba told me that nobody would hear me. And after I noticed that something was dropping from my private part.”

Okpara who recently completed her national service in Ilowa, the monarch’s domain was led in evidence by the principal state counsel, Mr. Biodun Badiora and she took her time to explain to the court how Oba Adebukola forced her to bed.

Miss Okpara, while narating her ordeal said, “I was engaged by the monarch to distribute forms for a computer training he organized and after distributing the computer training form to the participants, I told the Oba that we are through for the day and he said I should wait that he was going to drop me on the way to my house. So I waited for him and he drove me in his car but when we got to the front of my house where I was expected to drop, he said I would have to follow him to Osogbo for the registration of the forms, saying that the state government is expecting the forms.”

She explained further : “I told the Oba that it was late and that I can’t make it to Osogbo but he made a promise to bring me back to the village whatever time it cost. When we got to his house in Osogbo, he didn’t mention anything about the registration of the forms, so I told him I wanted to leave but he said it was already getting late and that he couldn’t risk driving at night.”

“I told the Oba to drop me in front of a police station that I would find my way home, he didn’t comply. Instead, he went inside a room and came out with a bundle of N200 notes and threw it at me that I should collect, because he mentioned how impressed he was with my performance at the computer training centre but I told him I didn’t need his money.”

According to Okpara, Oba Adebukola went in with the money and when he came out of the room, he had undressed

“When I told him I was leaving, he said I wasn’t going back that night and that he had been using many ways to get at me but I always turned down his advances and he said he was going to harm me that night.”

The accused monarch was in court and it would be recalled that he had told the court through his counsel, Tawfiq Tewogbade that he made love to Helen and that she enjoyed it while it lasted.

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NYSC Members Turn Errand Boys, Tea Girls At National Assembly

Members of the National Youth Service Corps serving at the National Assembly in Abuja have decried the shabby way they are being treated by most of the federal lawmakers.

Independent findings showed that the Corps members were disappointed after discovering that serving at the Assembly was neither rosy nor challenging, contrary to their expectations.

A male Corps member who expressed anger over the development, disclosed that members of committees had little regard for them.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said, “Many of us here are attached to committees but there isn’t much to do. The committees hardly allow us to carry out any serious assignments; officials just treat us like errand boys.

“They seize the slightest opportunity to shout at us during committee assignments. It can get really embarrassing.”

Also, an aide to a legislator, who did not want his name mentioned, said many Corps members scramble to serve at the National Assembly because they think it would give them the opportunity to work directly with Senators or House of Reps members.

“In the committees, they will be largely redundant except during meetings when they can serve Tea, Kola Nuts or Sweets,” the legislative aide added.

It was further gathered that the hope of the fresh graduates to serve as aides to federal lawmakers was dashed because, in most cases, the lawmakers had already given such jobs to their relatives.

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Two corps members, one female taken hostage in Rivers

POLICE has confirmed the abduction of two corps members in Rivers state. According to the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ben Ugoegbulam, one of the victims was later rescued by security operatives.

The Police Spokesman said a total of three persons were taken hostage and they were a male and female corps members attached to C.S.S. Odagwa in Etche local government area of the state, while the third was a female friend of the corps members.

The male, according to the Police officer was rescued from the combined efforts of security operatives. He also assured that efforts were on to secure the release of the other two female hostages.

“Two corps members, a male and female youth corps members attached to C.S.S Odagwa, Etche local government and their female friend were kidnapped. As soon as reported, a team of Policemen and soldiers moved to the scene and while combing the area the male corper was found and rescued. Search efforts for rescue of the two other victims and arrest of culprits are continuing”, he said.

It would be recalled that about five corpse members were taken hostage in the state over a year ago and were later released after several days in the custody of their abductors.

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Students want NYSC scrapped

Nigerian youths, delegates from 31 states across Nigeria and from Lagos and its environs came together recently to call on the federal government to scrap the NYSC by abolishing the decree setting up the scheme.

The event was a special edition of the annual international debate titled The NYSC Scheme Has Outlived Its Usefulness of the Supreme Education Foundation Schools (SEF), Magodo, Lagos. It was part of to celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the school.

The debate, which held at the school auditorium, saw young and erudite scholars from various the participating schools assume the status of governors of the states they represented to thrill their audience.

Barring their minds on the antecedents of the scheme, majority of the students maintained that the programme, which was the creation of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gown administration has lost its salt.

They cited corruption in the form of offering bribes to effect change in posting, discrimination against serving corps members in their area of primary assignment by natives, hazards associated with frequent travels, poor remuneration and insecurity, as some of the reasons for their call.

They argued that the problem of insecurity was brought to the fore with the killing of corps members across the country over the years, with particular emphasis on the number of youth corps members who lost their lives in the wake of the 2011 post- election violence.

The words of the young Bauchi State “Governor”, Akinbo David: “If I have the chance to speak to President Jonathan today, I will tell him, ‘please scrap this scheme. Come to think of it, in 1966, there was a struggle; in 1973, there was a decree to checkmate the struggle.

Thirty eight-eight years later, the struggle has gone, the military which promulgated the decree is gone but the decree remains. Why is this so?’

But the few who argued in defence of the scheme noted that aside achieving the objectives for which it was set up, it has served as a tool of national integration.

Chaired by Prof. Oladipupo Adamolekun, the debate ended with Her Excellency, the “Governor” of Bauchi State, Akinbo David, scoring a total of 80 points to place Redeemers Secondary School in the 1st position. Her Excellencies, the “Governors” of Ogun and Kogi States, Kemi Adeyemi and Genevieve Chima, placed Vivian Fowler Memorial College and Wellspring College in the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.

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2 Hausa Boys Arrested In kano For Gang Raping An NYSC Member

Two miscreants, Abba Garba 18, Abubakar Suleiman, 17, Monday, shocked Kano residents as they confessed to have gang-raped a National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, member serving with Durumi Secondary School, Kurna in Kano municipality.

The police said it has arrested Abba Garba and Abubakar Suleiman while the other two, Nazeephy Malam and Ali Wara are said to be at large. Garba, the lead suspect told Vanguard that the incident occurred penultimate week in one of the classrooms in the college by 12 noon when the victim, who was not aware of the strike action in the state, resumed for classes.

He revealed that he and his cohorts were forced into the school building on the fateful day by the torrential downpour when suddenly a lady that appeared to be in her late 20’s approached them, speaking a language they could not understand.

Garba the suspect  told  news men that in he was moved by the beauty of the ‘stranger’ and immediately drew out a sharp knife and compelled her to undress before he and his friends raped her in turns. He said: “I took shelter in the premises of the college with my friends when it started raining on that fateful day.

 While we were having fun, a lady suddenly approached us and was speaking a language none of us understood. “I was moved by her beauty and immediately drew out a sharp knife. We took her into one of the class rooms, forced her to undress and raped her in turn before policemen on patrol apprehended two of us. The other two escaped.”

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NYSC redeploys corps members as attack heightens in Borno

The national secretariat of National Youth Service Corps announced on Wednesday that it was planning massive redeployment of corps members serving in Borno State as a result of the current security challenges in the area.

The NYSC director general, Maharazu Tsiga, made the announcement in Maiduguri while briefing reporters on the latest development in the state, stating that "the NYSC will not hesitate to relocate corps members from states where there is no security for them.

"Borno is not an exception. We have decided to relocate all those in the camp and others already serving from the state," Mr Tsiga said.

He said that the relocation would be limited to those willing to leave the state, but "those who wish to stay behind will not be affected by the relocation, because we do not want a repeat of what happened in Bauchi last year, where massive relocation led to protest. Married women, nursing mothers and those who are sick will also be left out if they wish."

However, claiming that no corps member would be relocated to his state of origin in the exercise, Mr Tsiga said the practice was against the NYSC code and "we are going to decide which part of the country to relocate the corps members, because no member will be allowed to serve in his state of origin."

The NYSC boss denounced a media report indicating that there was a bomb blast at the Borno NYSC Camp on Tuesday, saying it was untrue.

"The story indicating that three corps members died after an explosion in the camp is not only untrue, but unfortunate. Media men should strive hard to make peace and not try to create problems," he said.

He also expressed shock over some text messages indicating that the NYSC camp in Jigawa was on fire.

Meanwhile, in another attack, suspected members of the Boko Haram sect on Wednesday detonated a bomb outside the residence of late Borno state former governor, Mala Kachalla. Military spokesperson, Victor Ebhaleme ,said that the blast did not hurt anyone.

Mr Kachalla died in 2007, but his family still resides at his house in Maiduguri.

Prior to the recent attack, Boko Haram struck in the Borno state capital on Tuesday evening, killing three people riding in a van close to a military checkpoint.

Commander of the Joint Military Taskforce, Jack Nwachukwu Nwaogbo, a major general, said an explosive went off under the van as its driver slowed down at a military and police checkpoint in the metropolis. The blast killed the driver and two passengers.

The University of Maiduguri yesterday announced that it was shutting down indefinitely over threat letters it received purportedly from the group.

University spokesperson, Ahmed Mohammed, said that the institution could no longer guarantee the safety of its students and that the university would not be held responsible should anything happen to any student.

In a June 12 handbill attributed to Boko Haram, the group asked for the prosecution of some former governors, which it blamed for the 2009 death of its leader. The source of the leaflet could not be ascertained.

Meanwhile, committee of Borno elders and leaders of thought have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the withdrawal of all soldiers deployed to the streets of Maiduguri, arguing that the soldiers have failed to address the security situation perpetrated by the Islamic sect; but instead have only succeeded in burning down houses and cars, killing innocent people and harassing passers-by since their deployment to the state.

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday fixed July 19 for taking the plea of five police officers accused of unlawfully killing the late leader of the Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf.

Those charged to undergo the trial are J.B. Abang, Akeera, and Madu Buba, all assistant commissioners of police; Mohammed Ahmadu, a chief superintendent of police, and Adamu Gado, a sergeant.

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FG-Corps members now to earn N19,800 monthly

MEMBERS of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving  across  the country will now earn an improved package monthly, as the Federal Government has approved the sum of N19,800 as monthly allowance for them.

The new allowance, with its approval date backdated to March 1, 2011, increased the previous allowance of N9,750 by N10,050, while arrears would be  paid to corps members who served within the approved period.

The Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga, who made this known in Abuja, on Monday, said he had been  in the forefront of improved welfare package for the corps members.

“The Federal Government has graciously approved  a new package for  the corps members. From now, serving members would be entitled to N19,800 monthly. l am very grateful to President Goodluck Jonathan for this kind gesture,” he said

He implored state governments and councils in the country to improve the allowance payable to the corps members, in order to make life worth living for them.

Tsiga, speaking during a visit of a team from Barry University, Miami, Florida, United States of America, to the headquarters of NYSC in  Abuja, said the scheme was introduced with the mission to promote seven strategic objectives, among which were national unity and integration, dignity of labour and self reliance.

He said from 2,364 participants in 1973, the scheme now mobilised an average of 200,000 corps members yearly, adding that since 1973, over 2 
million graduates had, so far, served under the scheme.


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