The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has expelled 54 corps members, including a bread seller, who were unlawfully mobilized for national service through the University of Calabar (UNICAL). This was announced by the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General YD Ahmed, in a statement released in Abuja on Saturday by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Eddy Megwa. According to the statement, the expelled corps members will face legal action. In addition, 19 individuals who attempted to register online for mobilization were prevented from doing so, and four certificates of national service were withheld due to irregularities.
This decision comes on the heels of a previous action by the NYSC to nullify 101 certificates of national service, raising the total number of affected certificates to 178.
Brigadier General Ahmed commended Professor Florence Obi, the Vice-Chancellor of UNICAL, for reporting the illegal mobilization of unqualified graduates from her institution.
He further emphasized that the NYSC will increase its efforts to work closely with Heads of Corps Producing Institutions and other relevant stakeholders to prevent similar incidents in the future. Employers were also urged to verify the legitimacy of national service certificates presented by job applicants.
The statement quoted Ahmed as saying, “The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar informed us that she noticed some names on the institution’s graduation list that were not supposed to be there. I commend her for her diligence. In a prior instance, a bread seller was mistakenly listed as a graduate from the same university. There are individuals who fabricate matriculation numbers and courses for their candidates. The task of entering graduate data must be entrusted to individuals with integrity.”
