The National Youth Service Corps has demobilized 54 corps members who were illegally mobilized by the University of Calabar.
This was disclosed by the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General YD Ahmed, on Saturday in Abuja.
Brigadier General Ahmed stated that the demobilized corps members would face legal prosecution.
He also revealed that an additional 19 individuals who initially registered online for mobilization had been prevented from joining the service.
Furthermore, four Certificates of National Service for other offenders were not produced by the scheme.
“This action is in addition to the earlier 101 certificates that were recently voided by the scheme, making a total of 178,” General Ahmed added.
The Director General praised the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Florence Obi, for her honesty in alerting the NYSC about the illegal mobilization of unqualified graduates from her institution.
“The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar came here to report that she observed some names appeared on the institution’s list and they ought not to have been there,” said General Ahmed. “She checked the list the school gave us, and I told her that their certificates would be invalidated. I give kudos to the Vice-Chancellor.”
He also mentioned a previous incident where a bread seller was wrongly mobilized on the graduation list from the same institution. “There are bad eggs in many places that generate matriculation numbers and courses for their candidates,” the DG said.
General Ahmed emphasized that the NYSC would continue working closely with all Heads of Corps Producing Institutions and relevant stakeholders in the country to eliminate this issue.
He also stressed that any failure in the mobilization process from any school would reflect poorly on the integrity of that institution’s management.
“Those who are responsible for imputing the data of graduates should be people of integrity,” General Ahmed said.
He urged all employers in the country to verify the authenticity of certificates of national service being presented for job placement to ensure they are legitimate.
