Agony Of A Corps Member Posted To Anambra State

For Mr. Abegunde Sunday, an ex-member of the National Youth Ser­vice Corps (NYSC), who recently finished his mandatory one-year national service in Anambra State, his joy as a graduate with amazing future has been severely punctured.

Few days to his completion of the national youth service programme, he was shot in the thigh at a very close range by armed robbers, who raided the lodge where he resided in the middle of the fateful night. The bullets, which nearly claimed his testicles, left him gravely wounded. While his colleagues from across the state were receiving their certificates and awards at Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka, the state capital, he was fighting for his life on his hospital bed at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (Amaku), Awka.

The Ondo State-born graduate of Office Technology and Management from Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, told Daily Sun that for several times, the youth corps members posted to Community Secondary School, Urum in Awka North Local Government Area of the state for their primary assignment, were attacked with deadly weapons by the thieves, who roamed the community with deadly weapons every night. He had earlier survived death after an earlier attack by robbers, an incident that left many of his colleagues wounded, losing money and household electronics estimated at over N1.2 million.

“The first attack happened in the night while we were charging our phones in the parlour. So when I now went out to lock the gate, I saw three guys at the other side of the building. They began to point their torch at me. They commanded me to lie down. But when I discovered that they were with guns and cutlasses, I screamed and ran back to my people. We jumped through the fence but the ones who could not jump over were commanded to lie down. They collected our phones, money, and other valuables and made away with them.

“But the second attack that left me in the pool of my blood took place at about 1am in the midnight when I was praying. They broke in through the back door. In my attempt to find out what was happening over there, they shot at me. It’s a pity, as they attacked young persons busy serving their fatherland. They collected our laptop computers, phones, and money. The only phone that was not taken away was the one we now used to call the principal. But after they had shot me, they beamed their torchlight on me to see whether I was still alive. So I seized my breath, pretending to be dead. It was when they left that the corps members came out from their hiding places and contacted the principal who now phoned the traditional ruler of that village and he now released the security vehicle used to rush me to the hospital,” he recalled.

But on hearing the dastardly act, the then state governor, Mr. Peter Obi, moved to the hospital with his Commissioner for Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Uju Okeke, to visit the wounded corps member. He subsequently approved the sum of N1 million to ensure his proper treatmen, and payment of debts incurred in the process of treatments. But right now, no one is sure of what happened to the disbursed funds.

The principal of the school, Comrade Obi Charles, who confirmed the robbery, regretted that the fund approved by the former governor to save the life of the youth corps member had not been released till date.

He said: “Yes, the government has not released the money. I went there but they told me that after the exit of the former governor, Mr. Peter Obi, the account was frozen, that they needed to do a lot of things, a lot of processes that they talked about, from the Accountant General’s office and so on. In fact, at a point I got tired. I have been going to the ministry almost everyday but at a point, I got tired. The money was approved by the former governor but at a point when he left office, they said the account was frozen. They said the thing needed to be re-confirmed or whatever by the current governor and so on.”

He lamented that “some teachers and villagers I borrowed money to pay for the hospital bills of the youth corps member are now on my neck, asking me to pay their money.”

In a telephone chat with Daily Sun, the former Commissioner for Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Uju Okeke, who confirmed knowledge of the horrible incidence expressed shock and sadness over the non-payment of the approved sum to the victim. Okeke said she handed over to the new regime for onward administration in that regard.

Hear her: “So, nobody gave him that money? Why now? Sincerely, I didn’t know that that money had not been released to him. Please, contact the current commissioner. We approved it before we left office. She should contact the director of accounts. He should know about that. It is quite unfortunate if they have not paid the (ex) NYSC member the approved money.”

Abegunde, who was the Corps Liaison Officer of the school during his service year, told our reporter that although he underwent surgery on his left thigh, no surgery was carried out on his right thigh, as the doctor claimed that the bullets would come out with time. But now, he informed that the pain on the right thigh was intense.

He told our reporter on the telephone and in electronic mail conversations that to ensure comprehensive medical care, he transferred to the general hospital in his home state of Ondo where he said he had been receiving medical treatments.

“As we speak, I’m still in the hospital. You know, while I was still in Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital, Awka, the doctor said the bullets in the right leg will come out on its own with time. But as the time progressed, the bullets were giving me serious burning sensation. I had no option than to transfer to my state for continued medical attention. Sadly, the N1 million approved for my medical treatment by the former governor of the state has not been released to me. I’m finding it quite difficult to pay for my medical services in Ondo State. Do they want me to be amputated, or even die before the sum would be made available to me? I went through hell in that community all because I was serving Nigeria with all my heart. I’m even more confused the way the whole thing is going. Or is there somebody in that office who is sitting on it? So I’m using this opportunity to cry out to the current governor, Chief Willie Obiano to come to my rescue because I’m dying here.”

But when contacted, the current Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha, insisted that the money would soon be paid.

Said she: “Don’t worry; his money has been approved. We will soon call him for it. It has been revalidated. The governor has approved it. Also, the money for the student that died in an accident at Umuokpu has been approved but we can’t just call the corps member and present it to him. No; we have to make it known that the promise has been fulfilled.”

The Sun Report written by Odogwu Obinna