The National Youth Service Corps,(NYSC)has been warned to desist from posting graduates who are christians and those from the south east, to the north for primary assignments.
A group with membership drawn from the south eastern states, Igboville, said it would hold President Goodluck Jonathan and the DG of the NYSC responsible if the lives of these graduates are put in harms way.
While recalling the murder of corp members in Bauchi and Other neighboring states during last April post election violence, the group insisted all the affected graduates should be redeployed.
The statement was signed by the leader of the group,Emeka Maduewesi and scribe, Dr Ndukwe Onu.
The group which urged all affected graduates to dump the posting, warned that it would be forced to seek legal redress if any of those sent to the Boko Haram ravaged nothern states, is harmed or murdered.
The statement read in part:
1. It is heartless and insensitive to post Igbo and christian graduates to the North in disregard of the current security situation.
2. We will hold the President and NYSC DG responsible for any of them that loses his/her life to Boko Haram and religious extremists.
3. The government must immediately re-deploy them to safer areas of the country or suspend the entire NYSC scheme. We are still mourning 11 corpers killed in April (2011) as a result of the post election crisis in Northern Nigeria as well as others that have lost their lives to the current upheaval in Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Maiduguri, Gombe and other Northern states.
4. We use this opportunity to remind the government and the NYSC that it is barely a year since we lost many youth corpers of southern Nigerian extraction to the senseless carnage in most parts of northern Nigeria. Sending more of our youths into the same dungeon is not only callous but highly insensitive to the esteemed value we place on our children many of whom have already been sacrificed to the Nigerian debacle. Thus we ask, how many more lives of our children must we sacrifice for the oneness of Nigeria?
5. We hereby put the Federal Government and NYSC on notice that we will not hesitate to use every resources available to us to bring them to account if any Igbo graduate is put in harms way in the North.
6. All Igbo graduates posted to the North are advised to boycott the service and forward their posting details to us through this email; igbo.ville@yahoo.com.
6. Any Igbo graduate who boycotts his posting to the north must be issued exemption letter by the NYSC on or before 10th of July 2012.
7. We wish to remind President Jonathan of the enormous sacrifices, in blood, that Igbos have made to bring about and sustain his presidency. Our reward cannot be for him to conspire with those wishing to wipe off our educational advantage. We will view his silence in this matter as an act of hostility against Ndigbo.
8. We are by a copy of this letter to relevant international agencies putting them on notice about this new dimension of Igbo cleansing in Nigeria.
God Bless Igboville
God Bless Ndigbo
God Bless Nigeria
Signed For ONF/Igboville
Barr Emeka Maduewesi
Leader
Barr Victor Aguku
Senior Executive, Corporate Development and Legal Officer
Dr Gaius Ndukwe Onu
Secretary General