NYSC Members Urged to Champion Fight Against Insecurity in Nigeria

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have been called upon to play a frontline role in tackling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery, and other security challenges across the country.

This appeal was made by the North-East Zonal Coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Major General Abubakar Adamu (retd.), during a sensitisation session at the NYSC orientation camp in Bauchi on Tuesday.

Represented by the Assistant Director of Strategic Communication and Information at the NCCSALW North-East Zonal Centre, Adamu Saleh, the coordinator stressed that youth involvement—particularly from corps members—is crucial in curbing the spread of small arms and light weapons. According to him, eliminating the proliferation of these weapons would drastically reduce insecurity in the country.

Major General Adamu explained that the NCCSALW was established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser as the official body responsible for regulating and controlling small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.

He urged corps members to be vigilant and proactive in their communities after deployment to their various places of primary assignment.

“Be good ambassadors of your families, the NYSC, your state, and yourself by reporting anyone in possession of, or involved in the fabrication of, small arms and light weapons. Without these weapons, issues like banditry, political thuggery, cultism, and terrorism will be greatly reduced,” he stated.

Adamu emphasised that part of the centre’s mandate is to engage in advocacy, community sensitisation, and stakeholder collaboration to combat the spread of illicit arms.

To strengthen this effort, he called on the Bauchi State NYSC Coordinator to partner with the centre in establishing a Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) group in the state, similar to the one already in operation in Borno State. The group, he explained, would receive training and resources from the centre to educate others on arms control.

Responding, the Bauchi State NYSC Coordinator, Umoren Kufre, welcomed the partnership and confirmed that steps would be taken to set up the CDS group in the state.

The initiative aims to leverage the energy and reach of Nigerian youth to support national security objectives, ensuring safer communities across the country.