The Benue State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mrs. Veronica Garba, has confirmed the evacuation of corps members from conflict-affected areas to safer locations in the state capital, Makurdi.
Speaking with journalists on Thursday in Wannune, Tarka Local Government Area, Garba said that corps members posted to volatile regions such as Yelewata and Daudu were swiftly relocated following reports of rising insecurity.
According to her, the NYSC management acted immediately upon receiving information about the crisis, moving the affected corps members into designated NYSC family houses.
“We do not joke with the safety of our corps members because we take them as our children so as soon as we heard about the crisis, we contacted the Commissioner of Police who detailed his officers to help us evacuate our corps members. We then did our head count and none was missing so we arranged with the heads of all the family houses and got them settled in Makurdi pending when the situation will improve,” she said.
The temporary accommodations include facilities provided by the Nigeria Corpers Christian Fellowship (NCCF), the National Association of Catholic Corps Members (NACCM), and the Muslim Corpers Association of Nigeria (MCAN).
Garba reassured worried parents that their children were safe and urged them to remain calm, expressing optimism that the situation would soon stabilize, especially with increased federal attention on the crisis.
“I am sure that the parents of our Corps members have heard that all the security chiefs have moved to Benue so they have no reason to fear. Above all, God who is the safest security is everywhere; He is with your children too,”
she added.
