Zamfara Corps Member: Uwakwe Unhurt
NYSC Management has further debunked the purported photo of Corps Member brutalized by policeman in Zamfara State:
The statement reads thus:
Contrary to the mischief being made online with strange picture of a man with deep cuts on his back, this is latest picture of Corps member Esi Uwakwe, who was assaulted by a policeman in Zamfara State.
Uwakwe, who was with us at the NYSC Headquarters yesterday, acknowledged the Scheme's intervention in his case, and has since put the matter behind him.
We remain committed to protecting Corps members wherever they are serving while also appealing to other stakeholders to show love and hospitality to them in their various service locations.
In another development, the author of the article regarding the incident in Zamfara has retracted it with a follow-up:
ON CORPER MICHAEL AND THE ARTICLE: WHO WILL HEAR, AND NOT CRY...
The whole truth and nothing but the truth.
1. I'm the originator of this article which has prompted wide reactions all over the nation. The article was a product of over zealous emotions and perceptions and has no bearing on what truly happened in Kaura Namoda, Zamfara state.
2. Michael was indeed arrested by the police on the call of the aggrieved parent who had her daughter punished. Though he was beaten by a police officer( who has been called order), the reports of brutalisation and dehumanisation according to the article were highly overstated.
3. The article was in no measure written to soil the good image of NYSC and all concerned, but was a diligent attempt to rally the sympathy of fellow corps members. But regrettably, it was hijacked and blown out of proportion by scrupulous elements on social media, who for whatsoever reasons, are bent on causing chaos.
4. Notably, is the role played by one AGHOLOR KING ABWEST, who mindlessly lifted the post from God-knows-where and laced it with gory pictures of a battered young man, pursuing people to believe that it was the supposedly the 'brutalised Michael'. This notoriety, has alarmed the general public, and people are buying the falsehood.
5. NYSC Zamfara state is on top of the matter. Their swift reaction has calmed every raging storm, and no stone has been left unturned to ensure that every square peg goes into a square hole. Corps members are equally satisfied with the level of concern as well as support shown by the host community.
6. Michael is my friend and also a colleague in the same school where I run what corps members popularly call SPA. I was duly grieved when I heard about his arrest but unfortunately allowed my emotions to get the better of me. I apologise for everything; the uproar, the labellings, the miscues... for absolutely everything this article has generated that are inimical to the psyche of the general public as well as NYSC and all concerned.
7. I also wish to express my gratitude to the NYSC authority in Zamfara state, for their level of responsiveness and professionalism in the event that happened. I'm just a poor soul overwhelmed in the scheme of things happening so fast that emotions prevailed over logic. Don Allah! Forgive.
God bless Corps members!
God bless NYSC, Zamfara state!
God bless Nigeria!
Chikelu Chino humbly writes from Kaura Namoda.
