The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has refused certain southern corps members’ requests for redeployment from the north, namely physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals.
Due to the instability in the northern area, where incidences of Boko Haram, herders, and banditry violence have escalated in recent times, medical corps members are concerned for their safety.
One of them, a young doctor who requested anonymity, said that the relocation paperwork was filled out by corps members who had health concerns, while others sought to redeploy because of the region’s instability.
“Because the country is currently unstable, we hope that after being assigned to a camp and spending three weeks there, you will be allowed to migrate to your preferred state, regardless of your state of origin or course of study.
“They have refused to relocate us to our preferred location because it is not safe for us. We need to be among our family or relatives at this time, not simply in any state, hence it’s unjust to deny our relocation requests.
“I feel that we only have one life to live and that our lives are more essential than our job assignments. I am a medical doctor assigned to Jos, Plateau State, but we chose to redeploy due to insecurity, and several of my colleagues manipulated medical records to prove they were not in good health. We submitted our relocation form because we needed to leave for medical reasons, insecurity, or marriage. I left the orientation camp because I was not too fine; I wanted to go back to Delta.
“Out of roughly 33 physicians in my camp, only approximately two were allowed to migrate, and those who did were deeply linked. Should we travel to the north and perish because I am a government dependent?
“Only approximately four of my friends who are also doctors were sent to Ekiti, Osun, and other southern states, while the remainder were sent to Sokoto and Kaduna. On his way to Sokoto, one of us ran into bandits; he escaped, but we had to ask him to enter his position on WhatsApp so we could know where he was headed.
“The housing provided to corps members is inadequate. During the camp, a corps member, a pharmacist, died, according to a friend in Borno. She was 24 years old at the time, and she had begun to pant after they had played volleyball. They took her to the doctor, but she died in less than ten minutes. There was no oxygen in the clinic. The oxygen came just after she had passed away. As a result, the official directed them to fabricate the fact that the lady died at the referral hospital. You can image the situation.”
