SURVIVORS of the post-election violence in some northern states yesterday in Abuja narrated their plight and attributed their escape to divine providence.

Some of the survivors, mostly National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members posted to Bauchi State for the mandatory national assignment, called on the Federal Government to prosecute the perpetrators of the mayhem to prove to them that they are not above the law.

The victims spoke at a forum organised by the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and civil society organisations in Abuja.

They challenged the presidential committee on election violence to do a better job and urged the government to faithfully execute the panel’s findings.

The youths’ bodies said they rejected the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC’s) alleged justification for the violence and demanded apology from the political party.

President of NYCN, Ajani Olawale James, tasked the presidential panel to undertake a thorough investigation of the causes of the “act of terrorism” meted on some corps members in Bauchi State after the presidential election.

“We are appealing to all civil society organisations to rise up against this national tragedy as one injury too many. We are calling on all politicians to desist from politicising the death of our colleagues,” he said.

Ajani described the corps members who lost their lives in the violence as heroes and those who survived as legends. He, therefore, urged the government to give automatic employment to corps members who took part in the general elections and the immortalisation of the martyrs.

After listening to the accounts of three of the corps members who survived the violence and the role of the Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, in their escape to safety, Ajani said 3,500 corps members were assisted by the state government to exit the flash-points.

The accounts of the corps members indicated that the killings occurred in Giade, Jama’are and Bauchi areas of the state.

“There had been rumours by supporters of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the CPC’s presidential candidate, that since he had cried at a campaign rally, they were not going to let his tears be in vain by ensuring that he does not lose at any polling unit. Little did we know what they meant. Yet, some corps members successfully carried out the exercise in a few places. There were indications that corps members were the target as the news of Darazo killing broke out, members were frightened because of the determined crowd, which appeared to be CPC’s supporters, calling us Jonathan’s corps members.

“Some corps members visibly peed on their pants, others fainted and some others left with no option than to succumb to the intimidating presence of the mob or the physical sight of dangerous weapons like poisoned arrows, clubs, daggers, heaps of stones and open threats of not allowing any corps members to leave the unit if the CPC did not win. Some collected the ballot papers from us, other party agents couldn’t come near the unit and some of us could only challenge double voting or under-age voting at the risk of our lives,” a survivor told the audience.

Part of the escape strategies was the use of mobile phones to send distressed calls to security agencies to come to their rescue and to corps members in the remote areas to quickly abandon the polling booths, remove their uniform, and run into the bush for safety.

“At some point, those of us who had access to communication facilities such as facebook, text messaging, reached out to our colleagues while in the bush to inform them to remove their uniforms.

“Corps members have been short-changed, the lives of our colleagues have been wasted, the dreams of young men and women have been dashed, our psychology has been tampered with by the murder of our colleagues in our presence, the government should immortalise the victims and address the challenges of the scheme,” another survivor said.

Meanwhile, the Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) has deplored the killing of 10 NYSC members during the violence that erupted after the presidential polls.

Chairman of NASFAT Kubwa branch, Alhaji Abdulhakeem Suara, who spoke in Abuja yesterday, urged restraints in the course of demonstrating political dissatisfaction.

He said: “It is Allah that gives life and He only can take it. Therefore, nobody should take a life no matter what. It is Allah that gives power to whom He wishes. It is a pathetic thing as a nation to lose 10 NYSC members over issues that relate to election disagreement. May Allah comfort those that lost their children to this sad incident.”

Saura spoke in Abuja at a special prayer session for the successful tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan.

“This prayer was organised to thank Allah for His grace on our lives. The society is of the belief that irrespective of the religious, ethnic and political background as Nigerians, it should be our collective responsibility to ensure unity of purpose for peace and tranquility of our country,” he stated.

The Deputy Missioner of the branch, Alhaji Abdulwasiu Ajijolakewu, called on elected officials to be guided by the fear of Allah in all that they do from May 29, 2011.

To those that lost election, Ajijolakewu said it is Allah that gives power to whosoever He wishes and urged them to embrace the winners.

Also, former governor of Oyo State, Lam Adesina, has appealed to Jonathan to make the nation’s power problem his priority.

Adesina said if the President could fix the power sector within one year, he would have succeeded in addressing other problems confronting the country.

He described the last one-year of Jonathan’s post-Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration as colourless save for the appointment of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leader also assured of positive development in the state, saying as a successful businessman, technocrat and an educated personality, the governor-elect, Abiola Ajimobi, would bring his wealth of experience to bear in office.

-Guardian

Posted by admin on May 23 2011. Filed under Elections 2011, Latest Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry