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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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NYSC Bars Pregnant Women From Lagos Camp
PREGNANT women posted to do their National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) in Lagos State met the shock of their lives when they were turned away last Friday by security men at the Iyana Ipaja orientation camp.
The security men claimed to be acting on an order that no pregnant woman should be allowed to serve in the state until after delivery.
In fact some group of corpers, under the aegis of NYSC Pregnant Corp Members (NPCM), had expressed concern over an alleged directive by the office of the Lagos State Director of NYSC to the effect that all corpers who are pregnant should defer their service pending their delivery.
In a two page "Letter of Appeal" to the National Director of NYSC, made available to The Guardian, the women lamented the implications of the order on their career.
" The new state director (a woman like us) has drawn the battle line between her and the women corpers who are currently serving and are pregnant and will like you to investigate it and help us address it ," the women wrote in the letter.
They alleged that the director had started physical verification of corps members in a bid to fish out "women who are pregnant, de-list them or, best, de -mobilise them, telling them to go home till they put to bed.
"That on putting to bed and weaning their baby, they should join the next batch of youth corpers. Even women who are two months pregnant and physically fit are sent home".
Attempts to confirm this from the Director, Mrs. T. Ana, was rebuffed by the chief security officer on duty that same Friday.
" There is instruction that any visitor not cleared by the director should not be allowed into the camp," he said.
One of the ladies outside the camp's gate said:
" I'm just arriving from Kwara state and I was not aware of the rule, since I was not told this when I was collecting my call up letter from the University of Ilorin to report to camp".
She and a couple of others said that they would remain at the gate till a solution is found because they had no other place to go that weekend.
The pregnant women, who complained that the directive seeks to exclude them from serving, maintained that there is no evidence that a similar directive exists in any of the 36 states and Abuja, and wondered why Lagos State should be singled out as a place to punish women.
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