Mr Igyuse Teryima, Gombe State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has advised corps members deployed to the state to use official distress call centres in case of any problem.

Teryima gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Malam Sidi Orientation camp in Kwami Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday.

He said the centres were established to attend to emergency cases and security situations affecting corps members nationwide.

"They should get in touch through the distress call centres in case of any problem.

"The distress call centres will locate where the corps members are and immediately alert security agents with a view to intervening in the issue," he said.

Teryima said government had also taken other security measures to protect the corps members apart from the lectures and other security tips to be given to them while in camp.

He said he had held a two-hour talk with the newly posted corps members and assured them that the relevant authorities and agencies had taken various measures to ensure their security.

"The security situation is not as bad as it is being portrayed. Many of them came to the camp with such apprehension, but the apprehensions are wearing out now," the coordinator said.

Some of the corps members who spoke to NAN said their initial fears about serving in the state have been allayed by the authorities, thereby giving them new sense of confidence on their safety.

Gabriel Wasa and Ilokechukwu Godwin, both indigenes of Anambra, said they would stay in the state and face the challenges of the service year.

They said the initial apprehension they harboured had vanished since they arrived safely in the state.

Pastor Goodness Igolo, from Abia, said she was shocked when she first received the news of her posting, but was happy to find the state peaceful.

About 1,580 of the expected 2,050 corps members had registered for the batch 'B' 2012 orientation as at the time of oath taking.

The coordinator said only those who arrived the camp by 4 p.m. on Wednesday would be registered. NAN