Families of drowned corps members set to arrive Taraba for burial

Since the tragic death of nine of the twenty-two members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who went on a picnic to a river in Mayo-Sebri village in Gashaka Local Government Council of Taraba state, NYSC staff and other corp members have been thrown into mourning.

Even after the expiration of the three days mourning declared by the state government, many of the corp members have been unable to report at their areas of primary assignments following the sad news. “The truth is that even if we manage to report at our duty posts, we would still find it difficult to concentrate because of our late colleagues,” said one of the corpers who pleaded anonymity.

At the office of the state coordinator, Florence Yakubu, who is fondly addressed by the corpers as “mama,’ said they have gotten in touch with the families of the victims, whom according to her, are due to arrive the state today and the remains of their loved ones would be released to them “as soon as they arrive.”

Apart from efforts being put in place by the NYSC to give the victims befitting burials, the state governor has promised to leave no stone untouched to contribute to the victims’ internment. However, at the time of filing this report, nothing had been heard from the state government despite promises made, but Yakubu said she was optimistic that the government would keep to its promises.

Yakubu, who did not want to make public the names of the victims, however told The Guardian that “two of the victims were from Imo, three from Delta, one from Anambra, one from Enugu, one from Edo and one from Kaduna state.”