Kidnapping: Afenifere calls for regionalization of NYSC scheme

.Hails release of abducted medical students

IBRAHIM QUADRI

The pan-Yoruba cultural and socio-political organization, Afenifere, the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) programme has advocated for enrollees to the scheme to be allowed to serve within their geopolitical zone.

The body, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi expressed relief on the return of the Nigerian graduates who were kidnapped on their way from Akwa Ibom to Sokoto State where they were to undergo the one-year national service.

It would be recalled that the last batch of the youth corpers who spent virtually a whole year in the den of their abductors were rescued last week by the combined efforts of security agencies in the country viz; police, army, intelligence agencies etc.

In a similar vein, some medical students of the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri who were kidnapped around Otukpo, Benue State, on their way to Enugu for this year’s annual Catholic medical students conference, were also rescued last week by the security agencies with the support of local vigilante groups.

They were kidnapped along with one of their lecturers who was travelling with them. Afenifere commended the security agencies for the feat recorded.

The pan-Yoruba organization observed that these pockets of achievements appear to be dwarfed by the avalanche of security challenges people are facing in different parts of the country.

The statement partly read, “Our community has become a hotbed of kidnappings, killings, and other violent acts. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes are believed to be members of the Fulani ethnic group, who have taken up residence in our community. These individuals have shown no regard for human life, attacking and hacking our people to death at the slightest provocation.

“The frequency and brutality of these attacks have instilled fear and anxiety among our people,” adding fear of kidnappers and attacks by bandits including cattle rustlers, are now rampart.

According to Ajayi, “This August alone, we have witnessed three separate incidents of kidnapping within our community. These kidnappings are not isolated incidents but are part of a broader campaign of terror being waged against our people.

“The attackers have been relentless in their efforts, leaving a trail of bloodshed and sorrow in their wake. Our community is under siege, and the threat to our lives and properties has never been more dire. The violence has claimed the lives of many promising young men in our community.”

Afenifere spokesman who observed that kidnappers now seem to go for groups and high-profile individuals so that they could get huge ransoms then called the attention of those concerned to factors responsible for banditry and kidnapping. Among the factors he mentioned were-  prevalence of ungoverned or under-governed spaces where government’s control is ineffective. Absence or paucity of government presence in such areas makes people of the area vulnerable to exploitation by terrorist groups, traffickers and other criminal elements. Remoteness of such areas contribute to their not being properly managed thus giving room for such unlawful activities such as illegal mining, human trafficking, harassment or killings of farmers, cattle rustling etc.

“Besides, the issue of under-governed spaces is that of the country’s porous borders. The porosity of the borders has increased the influx of small arms and light weapons from the Sahel region – thus heightening the incentives for crimes and banditry.”