HURIWA Demands Action On Kidnapped NYSC Members

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, is deeply concerned about the priorities and actions of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.General Taoreed Lagbaja, and the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, over-reliance on media propaganda instead of taking comprehensive action against terrorists.

HURIWA recalled that the COAS, during a passing-out parade of 85 regular recruits at Depot Nigerian Army in Zaria, is widely reported to have assured that in the coming days, the law-abiding citizens would witness renewed stability and an atmosphere of peace to enable them to go about their lawful businesses.

The National Coordinator of the frontline civil society organization Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, expressed his strong disapproval of his and the IGP’s excessive reliance on empty media propaganda as a means of addressing the country’s security challenges rather than taking effective, on-the-ground measures to combat terrorism in a statement on Sunday.

The association demands accountability from the COAS regarding the dire situation of seven remaining National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who were kidnapped by terrorists in Zamfara State and have been held captive for over a month in the forest. This situation represents a significant failure in national security and humanitarian responsibility.

HURIWA’s Comrade Onwubiko, in the statement, questions why the Army Chief has not taken decisive action to rescue these kidnapped individuals, who are not only in grave danger but also symbolic of the broader security issues in Nigeria.

He also highlighted the apparent disconnection between the Army Chief’s rhetoric and the reality on the ground. It underscores the shame of the COAS’s boasting and incoherent messaging in light of such a critical and unresolved situation.

The civil rights group therefore calls for the Army Chief to prioritize the safety and security of Nigerian citizens over public relations efforts and to take immediate and concrete actions to rescue the kidnapped corpers and address the larger security concerns in the country.

HURIWA stated thus: “It is a catastrophic shame that the entire service chiefs and primarily the man in charge of internal security in Nigeria-the acting IGP, are continuously ensconced and marooned in their heavily air-conditioned offices in the nation’s capital of Abuja and have completely abandoned Nigerians to their cruel fate and to live in Nigeria at the mercy of well-armed non-state actors including terrorists, kidnappers and daredevil Bank robbers whilst the Commander-in-Chief President Bola Ahmed Tinubu seems to have also failed to take steps to force his service chiefs to either work and enforce their mandates of defending National security interests or be dismissed from their financially juicy posts. Can we remind the President that his primary legal mandate is to protect the lives and properties of the citizens, and if these citizens are continuously killed, then the President no longer has the legitimacy to exercise authority as the President of Nigeria?  Mr. President, you must wake up from political hibernation and wage a relentless war against terrorists.

“It is a shame of monumental proportions that Corpers numbering 8 were kidnapped by armed terrorists in Zamfara State, and for a month, these Nigerians going for national service have been abandoned to their cruel experiences and ordeals in the hands of these mass killers, and here are the service chiefs grandstanding and spreading tissues of empty media propaganda.

“It is a shame that every one of us as citizens of Nigeria is not worried that seven families have their children they spent millions of Naira to train through schools and were deployed to serve their country but abducted by terrorists but the Federal Republic of Nigeria continues in a business as usual fashion. We call on the management of the NYSC to embargo posting our children for youth service to the terror-infested states of Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto states until such a time that these terrorists are captured, decapitated, or incapacitated. We know that it is not in your place as NYSC management to provide security, but it is in your place not to send our children to places where they can meet their inevitable early deaths due to terrorism, since the armed forces are not doing well enough to safeguard Nigerians.”