The management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said no corps member deployed to LEA Primary School, Lugbe, Abuja as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad-hoc staff was killed on election duty.
This was contained in a statement signed by NYSC’s director of press and public relations, Mrs Bose Aderibigbe, and made available to newsmen in Abuja saying that the report was false.
According to social media reports, a corps member deployed to LEA Primary School, Lugbe as INEC ad-hoc staff was brutalised by an angry mob on the suspicion that he was involved in the act of thumbprinting ballot papers in favour of one of the presidential candidates.
But reacting to the incident, NYSC director, press and public relations, Eddy Megwa, said the brutalisation of the corps member was a case of mistaken identity.
He said, “This was made known after investigation by the security agencies. In any case, the management of the scheme will not shield any corps member that runs foul of the Electoral Act if found guilty.
“It is imperative to clarify that the corps member was not part of the criminal gang involved in the said act.
“Gratifyingly, the culprits who are neither corps members nor officials of the National Youth Service Corps have been apprehended by the police. The brutalised corps member did not die as reported but recuperated after treatment at the hospital.”
He called on Nigerians to exercise restraint on issues that concerned corps members and other electoral officers on national assignment during the general election, while admonishing corps members participating in the conduct of the general election to ensure the highest degree of neutrality and discipline in their approach to the national assignment.
