…in serious prayers for fear of being kidnapped
Benjamin Jimmy
It was a moment of mixed feelings and palpable fear, as some corps members serving in Akwa Ibom State, on Sunday, raised an alarm over their safety, as they depart Uyo to Abuja by land for a competition said to be sponsored by the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. MK Fadah.
The fear took a different turn when ten corps members secluded themselves and engaged in serious prayers that lasted up to 20 minutes, apparently for fear of being fallen victims of kidnap by insurgents or unknown gunmen on the road.
Our reporter who was at the Federal Secretariat along Abak Road, Uyo, venue of their departure as early as 6:15 am, gathered that the 20 minutes prayers of the 10 members focused more on the issues of insecurity on the nation’s roads which many said have remained unchanged for some times now, owing to alleged security compromises by some individuals.
According to one of the corps members, they had gathered at the secretariat as early as 6:00 am so as to have enough time to arrange their sports equipment and their bags in the boots of the buses.
The corps members who are both males and females numbering up to 40 were however conveyed in two buses belonging to the Nigerian Christian Corpers’ Fellowship (NCCF), Akwa Ibom State Chapter.
Our reporter gathered that, while some corps members were seen so excited and kicking football as their bags were being arranged by some of them who volunteered to do so, a significant number of others appeared restricted to themselves, a situation that appeared to have intensified their fear.
Our reporter also observed that the corps members, rather than sit three on a row as has been the acceptable sitting arrangement of all transport companies in Nigeria, were sitting four per row, with many bags stuffed under the seats.
While interacting with some of the corps members during the arrangement, it was gathered that they would have preferred that the journey was by air where the fear of being kidnapped on road would have been allayed.
A corps member who pleaded anonymity told our reporter that the journey would have been safer and more exciting to them if they were to travel by air.
“Well, I’m a bit scared traveling by land because of kidnapping everywhere. If I had a choice, I would have preferred a flight where I will be relax and not thinking about anything.
“We are just hoping that we will arrive Abuja for the competition safe.”
Another corps member whom our reporter inquired from, to know how much of the preparations for the journey he knew about, said he was only privy to the information that their accommodation and feeding had been provided.
“The only thing I know is that there is accommodation and feeding for all of us. I don’t know about other things concerning the competition”.
Our reporter also gathered that money for fuelling of the two buses was made available to the two drivers, but it was not clear if the drivers are knowledgeable enough to do minor maintenance in an event where there is a breakdown on the road.
There was also a question as to whether the two drivers have ever engaged in a long journey like Abuja which their experience could boost the confidence of the travellers that had already dwindled.
It was also gathered that the drivers were not contracted from any transport company, but are part of the body of the NYSC in the state.
When asked if he was confident in the two drivers, one of the corps members said: “ it is difficult for me to say, because I don’t know if they have driven to Abuja before or a place that is far like that”.
It was also worrisome that many sports equipment and bags were tied on the roof of the buses, owing to the fact that there was no longer a space on the buses that could have accommodated those items.
Some corps members who also wondered why the Akwa Ibom State NYSC coordinator, Mrs. Chinyere Ekwe that always admonishes them to be security conscious could expose them to danger in the name of competition.
The corps members frowned at a situation where the state coordinator has refused to hire a conducive vehicles for them but resort to fuelling NCCF buses which they said may not be strong enough for the journey.
Fillers from the NYSC office indicated that Mrs. Ekwe has been lackadaisical toward welfare of corps members in the state.
The DG’s Competition is expected to last for five days.
