From CID Officer-in-Training to Wheelchair-Bound: Ex-Corps Member Alleges Abandonment by NYSC, Yobe Govt

For Tijjani Salisu, the National Youth Service Corps experience began with excitement and ended in a struggle to walk again.

The Sociology graduate of Yobe State University was posted to Kano State in 2025, where he served at the Nigeria Police Headquarters, Bompai, in the Criminal Investigation Department.

He said he enjoyed the experience of learning how investigations were conducted and cases handled.

Then came the accident.

Salisu was involved in a road crash while travelling home from his place of primary assignment. The injuries included a fractured backbone and compression of the lumbar spinal cord. He also suffered an open wound that required surgery.

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The damage changed his daily life. At one point, he said, he could not even turn his body while lying down without assistance from his brothers.

He could not sit independently and depended on others for basic activities.

Ten months after the accident, however, Salisu says rehabilitation has brought gradual improvement. He can now sit by himself, hold a walking frame, stand for several minutes and walk short distances with assistance.

But he says the experience has also left him facing questions about institutional support after the accident.

Salisu alleges that the NYSC and Yobe State Government abandoned him after the crash.

His account is now a wider appeal for support, rehabilitation and employment as he tries to rebuild his life.

As of September 16, exactly 10 months had passed since the November 16, 2025 accident. For Salisu, the period has been one of pain, patience and slow recovery. But it has also produced something he has not given up on: hope.