Nigeria Must Rescue Abducted Akwa Ibom Corps Members – Senator Ekong Sampson

Emotions ran high on the floor of the Nigerian Senate earlier on Thursday, October 5, 2023, when Senator Ekong Sampson, representing Akwa Ibom South, relived the ordeal of some young Akwa Ibom indigenes abducted in Zamfara State on their way to Sokoto for the National Youth Service Corps.

It would be recalled that on that on August 21, 2023, it was reported that an AKTC bus conveying 12 prospective Corps Members, alongside their driver were abducted. Three of them, however, escaped, leaving a total of eight Corps Members and the bus driver in the captor’s den.

Distraught families of the victims have openly expressed fears over the safety of their wards. Public-spirited individuals and groups have equally joined in calling for the release of the corps members and other Nigerians.

In the National Assembly, the three Senators from Akwa Ibom State, Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Senator Ekong Sampson and Senator Aniekan Bassey, worried over the abducted Akwa Ibom Corps Members, have been working closely and strategically with security agencies to ensure their release.

Last week, Senator Sampson met with Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio twice on the issue. Sampson and Bassey also worked on their contacts over the unfortunate incident.

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Similarly, at the Senate plenary on Thursday, Senator Ekong Sampson spoke in amplification of a security matter of urgent national importance in a motion raised by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’adua representing Katsina Central.

In his motion, Senator Yar’adua noted with concern the recent kidnap of five female students of Federal University, Dutsinma, Katsina State in the early hours of Wednesday, October 4, 2023. He said kidnap incidents have thrown the University and academic communities into panic, urging for enhanced security across the country.

In his contribution, Senator Sampson bemoaned the fate of the young Akwa Ibom prospective Corps Members, whose unfortunate abduction has thrown their families into ‘endless wailing’.

Senator Sampson, who is the Vice Chairman, of Senate Committees on FCT and Education, lamented how the ‘lofty aims of the NYSC Scheme are being undermined by the trauma some of our youths are going through while answering to National Call.

“My heart bleeds for those eight Nigerians who are languishing probably in the forest with their driver. These could have been our children. They could have been our relations. For close to two months, nobody knows where they are. The parents weep night and day. Relations cry their eyes out.

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Senator Sampson said metaphorically that the current security situation in the country was one ‘which you are either infected or affected’, noting that the ‘spates of kidnapping truly calls for concern’.

Senator Sampson said that it was time for Nigerians to ‘take ownership of our security architecture’. He said that we must take security as our common concern, to remedy the ‘national embarrassment’ insecurity has caused the country already.

Sampson appealed to security forces to rise and rescue those young Nigerians who were kidnapped en route to serving the country and all others across the country held against their wish.

The Senate, among other resolutions, called upon security agencies to ensure the release of the kidnapped students of Federal University, Dutsinma, Katsina State, the prospective Corps Members and other victims.

The Senate also resolved to invite Service Chiefs to discuss the security situation in parts of the country.