It was a confident Brigadier-
General Mahanazu Tsiga that
appeared on national television
three weeks ago to inform the
nation that no member of the
NYSC died in the Suleja bomb
blast just hours before the
National Assembly election.
Injured corps members at the
SSS Centre in Bauchi
That confidence was shattered
on Thursday when the Director
General of the National Youth
Service Corps in the company of
Governor Isah Yuguda of Bauchi
State addressed about 600 corps
members who had been
evacuated to the state capital
following the violence that
greeted the outcome of the
presidential election.
Four of the corps members were
confirmed dead while 20 are
missing on account of the
mayhem.
Gen Tsiga called the attack on
the NYSC members as“barbaric,
criminal and a wanton act which
must be condemned.”
He offered to “organise a convoy
of vehicles that will take you to
the nearest safe place” to your
homes so that you will be
reunited with your parents.
His speech was punctuated by
shouts of‘we want to go home;
we want to go back to our
parents” by the fear-stricken
NYSC members who had
become targets of attacks by
hooligans who claimed to be
protesting the declaration of
President Goodluck Jonathan as
winner of the presidential
election.
The State Police Commissioner,
Mr. John Abakasanga said his
men rescued 26 of the 51 corps
members posted to Jama’are,
Giade, Misau, Azare, Dambam
and Itas while 20 others are
missing.
•Victims count losses
The riots were particularly bad in
Bauchi State and other victims
are still counting their losses.
One Chukwuma, a trader said he
escaped being slaughtered by
the hoodlums.
“I packed my car in front of the
house and went inside the
house. The whole town was
rowdy, there was confusion
everywhere. A group of people
came straight to the car and
started to destroy it. I heard the
sounds.
They were saying in Hausa,
‘where is the man? Where is he?
We will kill him, Where is he?’
Before we knew what was
happening they had set the car
on fire. I wanted to go out but
my wife stopped me. We
managed to escape through the
window, went into another
family’s compound because the
car was already on fire.”
The hoodlums then entered the
house and made away with
electronics, laptops and other
valuables.
He was later assisted out of the
danger zone by a Muslim.“He
said I should not bother myself. I
should wait.
Then my pastor was courageous
to come and with him and some
other friends, I was rescued with
members of my family. We were
taken to Deeper Life Bible
Church in Bayan Gari where we
are now staying.”
A woman who lives in Bayan Gari
in Bauchi metropolis and does
not want her name in print, told
of how she lost one of her sons.
She had sent him to Muda
Lawal market to collect some
items from her shop only to be
slaughtered by the protesters.
“ I leave vengeance to God, who
will avenge my son’s death. As a
matter of fact, I don’t feel like
talking, just go,” she said.
The Bauchi State chapter of the
Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) said it lost 32 of its
members and 82 churches across
the state to the mayhem.
Secretary of the Nigerian Red
Cross Society in the state, Adamu
Abubakar told newsmen that, in
Bauchi metropolis alone“we
took over 20 injured people to
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
University Teaching Hospital, and
we have recorded 4000 displaced
persons who now lives in
Barracks while another 500 are
taking refuge at the DIC camp in
Gudun Hausawa village while as I
am talking to you more
displaced persons are coming to
the camps.”