Some parents and guardians took to the
streets of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on
Saturday to protest against the posting of
their children and wards to the northern part
of the country by the National Youth Service
Corps.
The protesters disrupted business activities
as they marched through the popular
Yenagoa-Mbiama Road, among other roads.
They stopped by the office of The PUNCH in
Yenagoa and explained to our correspondent
that they were apprehensive that their
children were going on a mission of no return.
The protesters, who displayed placards with
the inscriptions, “The North is not safe; We
cannot allow our children to be roasted; Post
our children to the South; and The corpses of
children killed in the past have yet to be
seen,” among others, vowed to reject the
posting.
They said since Boko Haram started
unleashing mayhem on the country,
particularly in the northern part, their youths
had been murdered in cold blood.
They said they feared that the insurgents
were on the loose, adding that the protest
was to forestall calamities for their children.
The protesting parents asked the NYSC to
review the posting without hesitation.
The protesters, who vowed that they would
not stop their protest until the review of the
posting, said they would not allow their
children to be wasted like animals by Boko
Haram.
The protest was led by the National Women
Leader, United for Goodluck Success
Campaign, Mrs. Favour Alafuro.
Alafuro said it was curious that over 95 per
cent of youths, who graduated from the state-
owned Niger Delta University, were posted to
the North.
Alafuro said, “It is said that security is
everybody’s business. I want to remind
Nigerians that a few years ago, some of the
Niger Delta youths sent to the North were
killed in cold blood. Up till now, many corpses
have not been found.
“The over 200 Chibok girls abducted by Boko
Haram, have yet to be found. Boko Haram
has wreaked havoc in many states. We feel
that the posting is a trap to kill our children.
“We are saying no, our children are not going.
If it is safe, we have no reason to object to
the posting. Unfortunately, the North,
including the Federal Capital Territory is
unsafe.”
She called on other parents in the country to
put pressure on the NYSC to review the
posting.
She said she would only allow her two
children ─ a boy and a girl ─ to go to the
South and not any part of the North.
“Our children, who finished at NDU, were
sent to Yobe, Adamawa, Borno, Kaduna and
other volatile areas. We (the parents) have
resolved to meet with the coordinator of
NYSC in the state to post our children and
wards to safe areas and not to the North. I
have two children posted to the North and I
do not want to lose them,” Alafuro said.
Mr. Francis Johnson, whose son was posted
to Yobe State, said he would not go.
Johnson said, “We know that the NYSC issue
is to bring unity to the country, but because
of grave security issues in the North, I won’t
allow my child to go.
“I dont want him to be slaughtered like an
animal.”
Another protester, Pere Otubo, maintained
she would not allow her daughter to go on her
posting to the North.
Otubo, whose daughter was posted to
Adamawa State, said Adamawa was one of
the hotbeds of insurgency in Nigeria.
She stated, “It is not that I am not patriotic.
The insecurity situation in the North has sent
panic to all parents. I implore the relevant
authorities to review the posting.”

Guam! !!
Guam! !!