₦airaland Forum

It was a rain of tears in Gbongan, Osun State yesterday as the body of one of its youths- Ebenezer Ayotunde Gbenjo-who was killed in the post-election violence in Bauchi State was buried. Thelate Gbenjo was in Bauchi for his youth service reports, Soji Adeniyi


Gbongan, an agrarian community in Osun State, was in grief yesterday. It received the remains of one of its promising youths, Ebenezer Ayotunde Gbenjo. The body of another, Kehinde Jelili Adeniji, is being expected today. Ayotunde and Jelil who were in Bauchi State for the compulsory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, were killed in the post-election violence that seized the state.


The youth corps members were killed on April 18, in Giade Local Government Area.

Indigenes of the state of the Living Spring, especially those of Gbogan origin, wailed uncontrollably yesterday as the remains of Ayotunde were buried.

After his death, the diary found on Ayotunde bore a message in Yoruba language: Oba ran ni ise, odo Oba kun, ako si gbodo ma je ise oba (meaning “The king has sent one an errand and there is danger on one’s way but one can’t afford not to go on the errand.”) Ayotunde was described by his acquitances as hardworking, humble, courageous and selfless. He heeded the call to service by presiding over the presidential poll in Giade Local Government of the Northwest state, but paid dearly with his promising future. Eight other corps members were killed.

The two late corps members never knew each other, despite hailing from the same town. Just like Ayotunde, Jelili was the fifth and the last child in his family of five.

They were both brilliant and willing to help others. While Ayotunde attended the Federal Polytechnic, Ede in Osun State for his Ordinary National Diploma (OND) before graduating in Economics from the Ogun State-owned varsity, the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Jelili attended the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro in Ogun State before graduating in Banking and Finance from the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, in Ondo State.

It was heartrending to know through Ayotunde’s Pastor, Venerable Oladayo Olaniran, who preached at the funeral for the late corps member at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Gbongan that Ayotunde would have served last year but could not because of a serious illness that nearly claimed his life. According to the cleric, every member of the church went into prayer and fasting session for him. “He survived the sickness but however, lost the year to join his mates to serve the nation. A day before he died, I saw his missed calls and I could not return it because I dont take my cell phone to church service. If I had called him back, probably we would have averted his demise through prayer. He will be greatly missed. He was too dedicated and committed to God’s work. He had prepared himself for death by his examplary lifestyle. He is humble, harmless, unassuming and reserved. One will always remember his life of service and usefulness. He was the church’s assistant organist. Every where he went, he touched lives. I remember the day he was the only one to come forward to dig the ground in church for a water channel.”

The preacher, who called on the Federal Government to assist the bereaved Gbenjo family, advised that the operations of the NYSC scheme be regionalised to stop the killings of the nation’s future leaders.

Deputy Governor Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori led a delegation to represent Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who travelled abroad, In the team were: the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola and Head of Service (HOS), Elder Segun Akinwusi.

Delivering the governor’s message, Mrs Laoye-Tomori described the duo as patriots and heroes, who died in the course of national assignment and in the enthronement of an enduring democracy for the nation.

She said: “It is unfortunate that those who killed these corps members failed to see them as change agents. These late corps members’ crime was that they didn’t allow those who wanted to frustrate the popular wish of the people to have a field day. They were Awolowo’s disciple by their deeds. They are sources of inspiration to us all, particularly people of their generation and the younger generation.”

Like Venerable Olaniran, who said life is vanity and meanigless without service to others, the deputy governor, quoting the late Obafemi Awolowo, said: “It is not life that matters but the courage you bring into it.”

Mrs. Laoye-Tomori promised the government’s support for the two bereaved families. She prayed to God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss.

The family home of the Gbenjos at Isale Obada Street was besieged with sympatisers. The two surviving aged parents of Ayotunde were short of words. The 73-year-old Pa Rufus Gbenjo, who retired as a senior driver at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State five years ago and his retired 71-year-old wife, Sarah, were looking forward to reaping the fruit of their hard labour and investment in Ayotunde. But they have been denied the dream.

Sympatisers rained curses on the killers of the corps members. Funmilade Adegoke, an elder sister to Ayotunde, kept asking rhetorical questions about how her brother was killed, how many police officers were in the station when Ayotunde and others were killed. How many police were injured and killed on the fateful day? Ayotunde’s first cousin, Mr. Kola Fatoye, a lawyer, said the only compensation for the family can never be a monetary donation, but for the culprits to be caught, prosecuted and brought to justice.

Ayotunde’s bossom friend, Tunde Agboola said , among unachievable dreams of Ayotunde was a plan to repaint the St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Gbongan with some other youths, who are members of the church before Easter and his Master’s degree of which his friend was to collect a form from the University of Ibadan and the commencement of ICAN examination after service year.

It was the same tale for the family of Kehinde Jelili at Isale-Oja area of Gbongan. The community, including the royal family was in a mourning mood. Jelili’s elder brother, Adesina Adeniji, an official of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN), who had raised Jelili , narrated how he received the death of his brother. “My younger brother told some mates of Jelili, who escaped the mob attack at their Corpers’ Lodge, called to tell him Jelili had been killed. Later, his lecturer called me to say he was seriously injured and I felt confused with the two different pieces of information. I called his number but was not reachable and I felt possibly he had not charged his cell phone. So, I sent a text message which had not been delivered up till now to him. At a point I called an NYSC official in Bauchi, whose number was given to me. The official was too harsh on the family, telling us to come and collect Jelili’s remains rather than calling them for information.

The two bereaved families said President Goodluck Jonathan had called to commiserate with them. They said the President also sent a text to them on May 2 at exactly 4.45pm, asking them to send two members from each family to him on May 10 for compensation. Jelili was said to be very brilliant and ahead of his peers in his academics. He was governor of his class from Part One to Three and President of the Banking and Finance Department in his final year. He had Second Class upper (2.1). He lost his father at five and the mother is well above 70. On breaking the sad news to the mother, she fainted twice. His brother, who is the family’s bread winner was too sad. He was looking forward to his late brother’s financial assistance and securing a job. Jelili was said to have prepared himself for this responsibility as he had sat for the Management course in Bauchi about a month ago and had also applied on-line for an employment with the Customs Service. But now, all his dreams had gone with the winds.


http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/4885-rain-of-tears-in-osun-for-slain-corps-members.html

@ Seun

Slain Corps Members to Get National Burial



The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has confirmed that the nine serving corps members (CMs), all young men, who were killed by rioters in Bauchi State following the April 16 presidential election, will be given a national burial.

And speaking in Lagos Thursday, Professor Wole Soyinka, expressed dismay over last week’s violence in some parts of the North, saying it was clear to every discerning mind that the mayhem had long been conceived.

In adverts placed in national dailies and electronic media across the country today, the NYSC lamented that CMs who had added credibility to the electoral process became targets of some disgruntled people who were not satisfied with the results of the elections.

The names of the deceased are: Teidi Tosin Olawale (from Osun State, BSc Computer Science); Nkwazema Anslem Chukwunonyerem (Imo State, HND Electrical Electronic Engineering), Okpokiri Obinna Michael (Abia State, BSc Environmental Management), Adowei Elliot (Bayelsa State, BSc Computer Science) and Adewunmi Seun Paul (Ekiti State, BSc, Social Sciences).

Others are Adeniji Kehinde Jehleel (Osun State, BSc Banking & Finance), Gbenjo Ebenezer Ayotunde (Osun State, BSc, Education Economics), Ukeoma Ikechukwu Chibuzor (Imo State, BSc Medical Microbiology) and Akonyi Ibrahim Sule (Kogi State, HND Business Administration). The deceased are to be given national burials after the organisation has liaised with their parents. President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to be represented by governors of the states where the slain corps members hailed from.




http://www.thisdayonline.com/

Ikengawo:
you guys didn't even read the article.
you're just assuming he said the corpers deserved it which is far from what he was trying to say.
dramatic people.

Forgive me but what part of this statement sounds oh so sensitive to you? Dramatic people? The part where he said it is their destiny? The part where he passed the buck to INEC or the part where we should also feel sorry for him because his house was burnt and his son was almost lynched and the part where he said he was also attacked in Ibadan in 1979? Please pray tell.

“They (corps members) were destined to experience what they experienced. Nobody can run away from destiny. When they were serving me, they were the happiest in Nigeria.“Immediately I handed them over to INEC, it was the responsibility of INEC to protect them. They were not the only ones affected. My own house was burnt; they almost lynched my first son. It is part of their destiny. I was also attacked as a corps member in Ibadan in 1979.

May you all rest in peace and may God in His infinite mercy grant your families the fortitude and comfort needed to bear your loss.

what kind of an insensitive statement is that? You are comparing the deaths of the innocent ones to the burning of your house? Inec should have protected them? Excusing your own failure? What kind of animals do we have as leaders for goodness sake?

Let's keep signing, we still need a whole lot more signatures.

Jarus:
@Odunnu,
Who stoned GEJ in PDP rallies? Who chanted 'Sai PDP guber candidate, Sai Buhari' in PDP rallies? I'm not saying CPC members were not there, they were there but PDP crowds who wanted Buhari were also there? If all the 12m pple that voted for Buhari in the North were CPC members, why did CPC lose in other elections.

Informed verdict: the rioters were both CPC and PDP people who united for Buhari in presidential!

Paint it whichever way you want to paint it, at the end of the day, Buhari supporters did it.

contracult:
Sorry it was an error. I was going to say Ajumobi. I never chop since morning watching this election! My brain no dey work again.

Na Ajumobi ooooooo! I don change am.

Eyah sorry, lol. But that your "Akala Wins" was enough to give someone a heart attack o.

Timehin:
Akala lost 'cos he deserves it. Whenever i see him dressed-up bleached with rings, neck chains i always imagine a woman going to owambe parties! I even learnt he wears anklets (chain worn on  the legs) or may be hes rehearsing for prison ankle chains? ACNs win is a well deserved win for oyo state indigenes, i hope it will be a true break from amala politics of adedibu-akala reign to usher in good governance. ACN SHOULD GIVE GOOD GOVERNANCE 'COS THATS WHAT MATTERS!

Amen to that.

Congratulations to my  Oyo state and Ibadan people o. Finally!!



Please let Ajumobi now know that the hand that gives power is very much capable of taking it back.

belabela:
I have listened to many comments over the protests in the North in the last one week and my conclusion is that many of our so called [b]educated Nigerians are just fairly better in reasoning than the illiterates in the Society.[/b]It is unfortunate that some innocent people (children, corp members, traders etc) lost their lives during the post election protest/violence. It is however appalling that some so called elites just open their mouth and put blame on whosoever they think should get it.

PDP rigged elections across Nigeria including the North of Nigeria in both NASS and presidential elections. A corper in Zamfara told me he was offered 120,000 naira on April 16 by the PDP agent which he collected. He said but his colleague rejected the offer. I quickly put a call through to my sister who is working with INEC in one of the Northern states and she confirmed that not only corpers were bribed but INEC staffs, security personnel, etc. I enquired from her if the PDP was planning to win the state but she replied that the PDP only aims to win 25% in her state which is very doubtful they would win without some "help" Reports from some states in the South west is not also different as reliable source informed me how unused ballot papers were thumb printed for the PDP in Ondo State to ensure Mr Jonathan win overall majority of votes. The fact is that Jonathan and PDP released some billions into each state to make sure the PDP win at first ballot.

When violence started in the North the hoodlums first attacked their leaders (Northern leaders) who have connived with the PDP leadership to ensure Jonathan win 25% of the votes. After that they proceeded to attack those who partake in the PDP loot which included the corpers. It is unfortunate that innocent corp members were attacked and some who were faithful to their call lost their lives and properties when these hoodlums decided to take justice into their hands. In the characteristics of every chaos in the north it soon turned into a religious fight.

Blaming a party is uncalled for here. When IBB annulled elections in 1993 how many of the violent protesters in Lagos were members of the SDP? Would it be right to have blamed MKO Abiola for the violence in Lagos then? or when Abiola died in 1998 and many Hausas were killed in Lagos would it be right to blame the defunct SDP or NADECO for the chaos? When people feel cheated they react.

It is regretful that lives were lost during the protest, but while we condemn these hoodlums, the blood of those who died in the last election is also on the PDP and Mr Jonathan who decided to tamper with the people's will in order to achieve their selfish aim.

You justifying the violence makes your reasoning sound better?

While a story like this is encouraging

Ogun evacuates 150 corps members


No fewer than 150 Ogun State born youth corps members serving in Bauchi State were brought back to Abeokuta, the state capital on Monday, just as the state government called for the scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps scheme.


The corps members were trapped in Bauchi following the post-election violence that rocked some parts of the North immediately after the presidential poll.


It was tears of joy of re-union as families stormed MKO stadium, where the youth corps members were received by the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Olukoya Adeleke- Adedoyin.


The commissioner said the state government went to Bauch on Friday on learning of the predicament of its citizens.


According to him, about 400 corps members were reportedly trapped. He, however, added that by the time the state delegation got to the state, some of them had managed to find their way home, leaving 150 others for the state to rescue.


Then you see another like this and know that we cannot relent in our efforts. Please keep signing



I want my son’s corpse – says 62-year-old mother of slain corps member

A survivor of the recent mayhem that killed several corps members in the North narrates how she escaped death by the whiskers as mourning parents and relations of victims call on the National Youth Service Corps to release the bodies of their children in this report by SEGUN OLUGBILE





When Seun Adewumi completed his degree programme at the Olabisi Onabanjo University , Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, his dream was to take care of his 62-year-old mother, a retired cleaner of the Judicial Service Commission, Lagos State .


With enthusiasm, he gladly received his posting to Bauchi State for the one year mandatory National Youth Service Corps Scheme with the hope that he would get a good job after his service year and move his mother from the uncompleted building she lives in, at Agbado, an outskirt of Lagos , to a more decent apartment.


But this dream was shattered as life was snuffed out of the 27 year-old Political Science graduate in a gruesome manner last Monday by post-election rioters in Giade, the headquarters of Giade Local Government Area of Bauchi State.


Born in Lagos , Adewumi, a native of Imojo-Ekiti in Oye Ekiti Local Government Area of Ekiti State, was the only graduate out of his mother’s six children.


One of the corps members that survived the attack where over seven of her colleagues met their untimely deaths, Wumi, said Seun was butchered to death by rioters.
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104264484946



Please it is cruel for the government to keep silent on the deaths of these kids but  crueler for the society to keep quiet as well.

With all the mess going on in this part of the country, sokoto has remained peaceful. Is there something the state gorvernment is doing right that others should emulate?

With all the mess going on in this part of the country, sokoto has remained peaceful. Is there something the state gorvernment is doing right that others should emulate?

@ contracult

No problem at all. I’m glad you put this up. The day I heard about Ukeoma, I cried like he was related to me and couldn’t stop thinking about what he must have gone through hence this petition seems so important to me. Sending corpers to such places is like sending them to war without arming them.

@contracult

I have tagged bellanaija and notjustok on twitter to please put this petition up to no avail o. If anyone has a better way of contacting please do.

@Contracult

That's great. Yes we need to keep signing as more needs to be done.

Pls let us keep signing.

Also remember the petition is calling for the FG/NYSC to release the names of the dead, create a memoriam in their honor and compensate the family accordingly. These kids died as heroes serving their father's land and they deserve to be recognized for this.

Please let us get this petition to a decent amount. I see a heavy traffic on twitter when these killings happen so I know there are many of us out there that can sign the petition but are yet to. While this petition may seem inconsequential, please folding our arms is even worse.

It may well be that our means are fairly limited and our possibilities restricted when it comes to applying pressure on our government. But is this a reason to do nothing? Despair is nor an answer. Neither is resignation. Resignation only leads to indifference, which is not merely a sin but a punishment

- Elie Wiesel

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

In concert with the Nigeriavillagesquare, ContraCultureMag is proud to support this petition to withdraw youth corpers from states where they are being murdered in Nigeria.

Here is what we are demanding:

In the short term, we ask that:

a) All youth corpers serving in these volatile states be withdrawn immediately.

b) All youth corpers serving in these volatile states be redeployed to other states of their choosing, or be excused for the rest of the service year.

c) All youth corpers be excused from serving as electoral officers in the upcoming governorship elections as we are not convinced that adequate and confirmed security can be provided for them.

d) The identities of all youth corpers who lost their lives in this violence be made public.

In the longer term, we ask that:

a) Youth corpers be given the choice of the regions in which they should serve. Nobody should be mandated to serve in an area where security of lives and property is not guaranteed.

b) Any community where a corper is posted and harmed in any mob action – specific already pre-identified individuals, groups and/ or institutions be held liable and culpable (for example the local religious and community leaders) for any harm that befalls them both in terms of jail time and financial recompense.

c) In Line with the above, the National Youth Corps system should be revamped to also include a situation where corpers reporting for duty in their various locations are received by law, into their host communities by not only the state governments, but also by traditional and religious leaders who understand and recognize their value to the development of their host communities and hence sign on to ensure that the wellbeing of the corper is guaranteed. This action will go a long way to preempt the possibilities of random and senseless violence during the service year.

d) We also ask that all National Youth Corps Members who have died in this violence and in the future killed in the line of duty should be immortalized in a national memorial in Abuja. The memorial should have a provision to add new victims in the future.

If you support this call, please head over here to sign the petition.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/petition-for-the-withdrawal-of-youth-corps-members-from-trouble-prone-northern-states.html

Thanks and please spread through all social networks.

In concert with the Nigeriavillagesquare, ContraCultureMag is proud to support this petition to withdraw youth corpers from states where they are being murdered in Nigeria.

Here is what we are demanding:

In the short term, we ask that:

a) All youth corpers serving in these volatile states be withdrawn immediately.

b) All youth corpers serving in these volatile states be redeployed to other states of their choosing, or be excused for the rest of the service year.

c) All youth corpers be excused from serving as electoral officers in the upcoming governorship elections as we are not convinced that adequate and confirmed security can be provided for them.

d) The identities of all youth corpers who lost their lives in this violence be made public.

In the longer term, we ask that:

a) Youth corpers be given the choice of the regions in which they should serve. Nobody should be mandated to serve in an area where security of lives and property is not guaranteed.

b) Any community where a corper is posted and harmed in any mob action – specific already pre-identified individuals, groups and/ or institutions be held liable and culpable (for example the local religious and community leaders) for any harm that befalls them both in terms of jail time and financial recompense.

c) In Line with the above, the National Youth Corps system should be revamped to also include a situation where corpers reporting for duty in their various locations are received by law, into their host communities by not only the state governments, but also by traditional and religious leaders who understand and recognize their value to the development of their host communities and hence sign on to ensure that the wellbeing of the corper is guaranteed. This action will go a long way to preempt the possibilities of random and senseless violence during the service year.

d) We also ask that all National Youth Corps Members who have died in this violence and in the future killed in the line of duty should be immortalized in a national memorial in Abuja. The memorial should have a provision to add new victims in the future.

If you support this call, please head over here to sign the petition.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/petition-for-the-withdrawal-of-youth-corps-members-from-trouble-prone-northern-states.html

In concert with the Nigeriavillagesquare, ContraCultureMag is proud to support this petition to withdraw youth corpers from states where they are being murdered in Nigeria.

Here is what we are demanding:

In the short term, we ask that:

a) All youth corpers serving in these volatile states be withdrawn immediately.

b) All youth corpers serving in these volatile states be redeployed to other states of their choosing, or be excused for the rest of the service year.

c) All youth corpers be excused from serving as electoral officers in the upcoming governorship elections as we are not convinced that adequate and confirmed security can be provided for them.

d) The identities of all youth corpers who lost their lives in this violence be made public.

In the longer term, we ask that:

a) Youth corpers be given the choice of the regions in which they should serve. Nobody should be mandated to serve in an area where security of lives and property is not guaranteed.

b) Any community where a corper is posted and harmed in any mob action – specific already pre-identified individuals, groups and/ or institutions be held liable and culpable (for example the local religious and community leaders) for any harm that befalls them both in terms of jail time and financial recompense.

c) In Line with the above, the National Youth Corps system should be revamped to also include a situation where corpers reporting for duty in their various locations are received by law, into their host communities by not only the state governments, but also by traditional and religious leaders who understand and recognize their value to the development of their host communities and hence sign on to ensure that the wellbeing of the corper is guaranteed. This action will go a long way to preempt the possibilities of random and senseless violence during the service year.

d) We also ask that all National Youth Corps Members who have died in this violence and in the future killed in the line of duty should be immortalized in a national memorial in Abuja. The memorial should have a provision to add new victims in the future.

If you support this call, please head over here to sign the petition.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/petition-for-the-withdrawal-of-youth-corps-members-from-trouble-prone-northern-states.html

Whao, and I thought I had a lot of beatings as a child?

I can't get pass the headline, "insightful", really?