Boko Haram attack; NYSC suspends orientation course at Yobe and Borno

The orientation course for Batch ‘C’ of the National Youth Service Corps in Borno and Yobe states has been put off indefinitely in order to protect corps members from Boko Haram attacks.

The NYSC  in a statement on Wednesday announced the indefinite suspension and asked corps members already posted to the two states harried by members of the violent Islamic sect last Friday to remain in their homes to await further directive.

The statement, a copy of which was made available to THE PUNCH on Wednesday, reads, “Owing to security reasons, (the) orientation course WILL NOT hold in Borno and Yobe states until further notice.

“Prospective corps members posted there should await further directives.

“All serving and new corps members are STRONGLY advised to strictly adhere to the contents of the security tips distributed to them.”

According to the statement, registration for new corps members begins on Tuesday, November 15, 2011, the cut -off date for Registration is 12 midnight Wednesday November 16, 2011 while the official closing ceremony is Tuesday December 6, 2011.

Boko Haram, Friday night, bombed drinking joints, churches, mosques and police stations in both Maiduguri and Damaturu, capitals of Borno and Yobe respectively, killing about 150 people.

Meanwhile the Federal Government on Wednesday said it was on top of the security situation in the country.

Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, told journalists that the government had in fact recorded many “silent victories” in the fight against the scourge of the militant Islamic group.

He, however, admitted that the operations of the sect posed a lot of challenges to security agencies.

He said, “All I can tell you for now are that Federal Government is working round the clock to check the activities of Boko Haram and the results will soon begin to show.

“All of us know that wherever terror raises its ugly head it is not a conventional war, where the military of Nigeria will go one side and the terrorists group on the other side for a confrontation.

“Terrorists use undercover attacks, what you call guerrilla welfare.

“They do not operate under the light of self- proclamation of who their identities are. There are several countries like Algeria and Pakistan and several others that have come under terror attack for almost over a decade and in those countries up till today, you still have isolated attacks in spite of all the deployments that have taken place.

“Let me give an example, all those who carried out the terrorist attack of October 1, 2010 have been arrested, all the vehicles they used, all the channels they used, all the individuals associated with it are in the custody of security agencies and are being investigated.

“You will also find out that in many places where similar attacks have taken place earlier, arrests have not been made even in countries that you can say have greater sophistication in terms of technical capacity.”

Meanwhile, soldiers have taken over security in and around the Abuja NYSC Camp in Kubwa ahead of the commencement of the Batch “C” orientation camp for corps members.

Vehicles going into and coming out of the camp are thoroughly searched for weapons and other contraband.

Although none of the soldiers was willing to speak on the deployment, a source in the NYSC confided in our correspondent that the measure was pre-emptive.

The source pleaded for anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media on security issues.

He said, “You know the situation in the country; management cannot leave anything to chance.

“The safety of our corps members is of utmost importance to us, especially in the light of the avoidable loss of innocent lives during the post- election crisis in the north.”

In recent past, quite a number of serving corps members had been killed in sectarian attacks in Jos, Plateau State, and during the post-2011 general elections violence in some parts of the northern region.

But NYSC has continued to post corps members to volatile areas of the north despite calls by concerned Nigerians, especially parents, that the areas are not safe for the young graduates.