The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have been called upon to actively participate in the fight against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery, and other forms of insecurity affecting Nigeria.
This appeal was made by the Northeast Zonal Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Major General Abubakar Adamu (retd.), during a visit to the NYSC orientation camp in Bauchi on Tuesday.
According to him, youth involvement, particularly by corps members, is crucial in curbing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, a major driver of criminal activities in the country. “Please, when you have been posted out to your various places of primary assignment, look into these things, be a good ambassador of your parents, NYSC, your state and yourself by reporting anyone using these small arms and light weapons,” Abubakar stated.
Represented by Assistant Director of Strategic Communication and Information at the NCCSALW Northeast Zonal Centre, Adamu Saleh, he stressed that the institution was created in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser to regulate and control the spread of small arms and light weapons.
He further urged corps members to promptly report individuals involved in fabricating or distributing such weapons, stressing that without their circulation, “there will be no banditry, violence, cultism, political thuggery, Boko Haram, ISWAP and others.”
The NCCSALW, Abubakar said, continues to engage in advocacy and community sensitisation to curb weapon proliferation, and he called for collaboration with the NYSC in Bauchi to create a Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) group, similar to the one already set up in Borno State.
The proposed group would be trained by the centre to, in turn, train others, with funding provided for its activities. Responding, the NYSC State Coordinator, Umoren Kufre, assured that steps would be taken to establish the CDS group in Bauchi, marking the beginning of a cooperative effort.
okaynews.com reports that the initiative aligns with the federal government’s strategy to tackle the root causes of insecurity by engaging the nation’s youth in proactive and preventive measures.
