Rescued youth corps members want automatic employment to heal

Ini Billie, Uyo

Some of the eight former corps members from Akwa Ibom State kidnapped in Zamfara last year on their way to Sokoto for their national service, have recounted their experiences at the hands of their abductors.

The victims who spent between two months to one year in captivity, revealed that they ate leaves and drank flood water to survive. They said they thought they would die as the female hostages complained of severe health challenges and unpleasant sanitary conditions.

Solomon Bassey Daniel, one of the victims who was in captivity for one year, told our correspondent on Thursday in Uyo that he was separated from his colleagues after his family failed to pay the required ransom.

Daniel who was kidnapped on August 17, 2023, and released on August 22, 2024, stated that while in captivity, he was unable to pass stool for three months.

“I went through a lot. I chewed leaves to survive and drank extremely dirty water. I was tortured daily from morning until evening. I could not defecate or urinate for three months. I thought I was going to die,” he said.

Noting that the abductors considered him the “most stubborn” due to his refusal to agree to their ransom demands, Daniel said he was transported on a motorcycle from Zamfara to Kaduna State through bush tracks.

He mentioned that he spent several months guarded by over 10 heavily armed men before security operatives rescued him.

Another victim, Miss Victoria Bassey said, “I never believed I could survive under such terrible conditions. Even during our menstrual periods, we couldn’t bathe. We drank flood water to stay alive.”

Recounting that the bus conveying them was intercepted at a bad spot in Zamfara, which they initially mistook for a checkpoint, Etim Bassey, another victim said, “The area was blocked with logs of wood and manned by armed men in military uniforms, who then ordered us into the forest,” he said.

The rescued corps members applauded President Bola Tinubu, Director General of NYSC, General Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed, Governor Umo Eno, security operatives, and other well-meaning Nigerians for their efforts in securing their freedom.

They appealed for employment opportunities and any form of assistance from the Federal and State governments that would help them heal and overcome the trauma they experienced.

While speaking, the Founder and President of Open Forum Care for Humanity Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, Mr Matthew Koffi Okono (MKO), supported their call for job opportunities, urging the government to help ease their post-traumatic experience.

Okono commended President Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno and the DG of NYSC for their roles in securing the release of the abductees, and called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to formally receive the rescued graduates and offer them automatic employment in the State Civil Service.

He advocated for reforms in the NYSC scheme saying, “The Federal Government should look into making the NYSC scheme more pro-development and safer, to add more value to nation-building.”