Insecurity: Lawyer threatens to sue NYSC over posting of corps members to other states

A human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, has threatened to drag the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to court for continuing to post corps members to states other than their states of residence.

He said that this practice, amid the nation’s deplorable security situation, is tantamount to signing their death warrants while still alive and potentially violates the right to life guaranteed under Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution.

Ogun, the Senior Partner at FO Legal, stated this in a Facebook post.

Corps members remain primary targets for kidnappers and bandits in Nigeria, particularly along high-risk transit corridors.

Some serving or prospective corps members abducted in the recent past include Eunice Ameh (Abuja), Abba Musa Usman (Zamfara) and Lateefah Binuyo (Kogi).

Biinuyo, a Lagos resident, was a prospective corps member abducted along the Kogi axis while traveling to her orientation camp in Taraba State, prompting the Lagos State House of Assembly to intervene and demand rescue operations. She regained her freedom after 10 days in captivity.

Usman was abducted by suspected bandits on January 9 while travelling from Gusau in Zamfara State to Sokoto State.

The kidnappers intercepted his vehicle at Gidan Kano, a village located at Makera-Take Tsaba in the Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara. He regained his freedom in April, after three months in captivity.

Ogun said, “It is unconstitutional for NYSC to continue dispatching young people on a journey of no return. It potentially violates the right to life guaranteed under Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution.

“With the spate of insecurity in every corner of Nigeria, posting corpers to states, other than their states of residence, is tantamount to signing their death warrants while still alive.

“In the coming weeks, I may be compelled to approach a court of competent jurisdiction to challenge this continuous violation of human rights.

“I will chronicle the number of corpers deaths and abductions experienced owing to insecurity in this country.

“The killings are avoidable and the NYSC program must stop all together till the country is safe.

“Now, the suit is not just about me. I have served this country in khaki, some years ago. My fight for corpers is more about the future of this country and the sanctity of human life.”