The management of the National Youth Service Corps has withdrawn corps members from crisis-prone areas of Anambra State in Saturday’s elections.
Our correspondent recalled that a female corps member was abducted in the state in the February 23 presidential National Assembly elections in the state.
Confirming the withdrawal of NYSC members in such areas, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr Nwachukwu Orji, said an alternative measure had been made to take care of the situation.
He said, “I received a letter from the NYSC saying it won’t deploy corps members to conflict-prone areas. But that is not a source of worry to us.
“We have people in our data base standing by for engagement. Some even come to the polling unit uninvited, waiting for opportunities to work. So we will take care of the situation,” Orji stated.
Our correspondent gathered that the state NYSC coordinator, Kehinde Aremu, had written to INEC in the state asking for the withdrawal of corps members from those areas based on the directive from the headquarters barring corpers from volatile areas.
But the REC said the decision would not pose any challenge to the Saturday poll in the state, noting that the electoral umpire had more than enough trained staff to replace the corps members.
