In a bid to forestall the recurrence of loss of its corps members to any electoral violence in the forthcoming general polls in February, the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has asked that necessary measures be put in place to protect corps members across the nation.

The coordinator of the NYSC in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Olanipekun Alao emphasized that “all hands must be on deck to ensure that corps members all over the nation are protected from any form of violence during the forthcoming general elections.”

Alao, who spoke with newsmen in his office, appealed that all religious and traditional leaders should ensure that they do everything they can to protect the corps members who left their parents and communities to serve the nation wherever they had been posted to.

The NYSC coordinator also charged the government to ensure that it plays its part in sensitizing Nigerians on the roles that corps members had been assigned to play during elections, thereby ensuring that they are seen as completely neutral in the electoral process.

Expressing the hope that the National Orientation Agency, NOA, would take up its responsibility of enlightening Nigerians on the role of corps members during elections, Alao also promised that both the NYSC and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will train the corps members on right conduct during elections.

He stated that the NYSC had set up a security committee that would devise mechanisms for monitoring the corpers as they discharged their duties during the elections and that corps members have commenced registration for the INEC training on how to discharge their duties effectively and efficiently during the polls.