Corps members in Rivers State are refusing to participate in the legislative rerun election scheduled to hold on Saturday, December 10, Punch reports.

It was learnt that the corps members have refused to show interest due to fear of possible violence during the election.

A source told Punch that the usual enthusiasm of corps members associated with elections was missing.

The source said, “Corps members being contacted by INEC to participate in the Rivers rerun election are showing reluctance to serve in the election.

“A good number of them are afraid that there could be violence during the election, and these are young men and women who don’t want to get killed because of some election.”

Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers, Aniedi Ikoiwak said the job of corps members was voluntary.

He added that INEC will get ad hoc staff from other government’s agencies if there was shortage in the number of corps members needed for the job on Saturday.

“From the beginning, the NYSC work is on a voluntary basis. We know that some of them might have been told by their parents not to be part of it (election).

“But if we have problem of shortage of manpower, we will complete them with workers from other government’s agencies and institutions,” he stressed.

Azeez