The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has warned National Youth Service Corps members posted to Sokoto that the northern state is not safe amid the continued deterioration of insecurity across the country.

The Muslim spiritual leader also described Nigerians calling for the scrapping of the scheme as enemies of the nation.

“I urge you to be security conscious while staying in Sokoto. You know there are security challenges now all over the world. We have our own share also.

”You should not keep late nights, and if you have any challenges contact your district head because they are like your father and guardian,” he said.

Mr Abubakar spoke when he hosted some selected NYSC Batch A stream 2 Corps members posted to Sokoto in his palace on Monday.

“I heard there are efforts for the scrapping of the NYSC scheme. I assure you that those behind that struggle do not mean well for this country,” Mr Abubakar said.

According to him, the NYSC scheme is the most needed programme given the present situation with Nigeria almost divided along ethnic and religious lines.

Mr Abubakar urged the corps members to consider the state their second home and explore the opportunities therein.

The paramount ruler, who advised the corps members to respect the customs and traditions of their host communities, urged them to be security-conscious as there are security challenges in parts of the state.

He gave assurance that there would not be any reprisal because a northerner had been killed in Owerri, Enugu, or Aba, insisting that another person should not be punished because of what someone did elsewhere.

He added that Nigeria’s two major religions, Christianity and Islam, did not support killing innocent people.

(NAN)