NYSC kidnap: Afenifere demands urgent reform

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called for the immediate implementation of reforms to the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, scheme to prevent prospective corps members from undertaking long-distance journeys to states where they are vulnerable to kidnapping and other security threats.

The organisation’s demand followed the abduction of 20 graduates travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective NYSC orientation camps in the South-East and South-South, with Afenifere urging the Federal Government to fast-track amendments to the NYSC Act and allow graduates to serve in their states of origin, states of residence or, at least, within their geopolitical zones.

Afenifere also called for urgent action by the Federal Government, security agencies and the Oyo and Imo State Governments to secure the release of the abducted graduates, while commending President Bola Tinubu for approving additional military formations in several states to improve security response.

The organisation made its position known on Monday in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, in which it expressed dismay over the abduction and sympathised with the families of the victims.

It would be recalled that 20 graduates, who had their NYSC call-up letters and departed from the Samonda area of Ibadan on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, were among passengers abducted at a location near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

The Imo State Police Command confirmed the incident, while the buses carrying the prospective corps members were travelling from Ibadan towards Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State.

The abductors were initially said to have demanded N100 million per victim as ransom, but by Sunday, the demand had reportedly been reduced to N5 million per person.

Reacting to the development, Afenifere condemned the abduction, arguing that the security risks associated with the NYSC scheme could be significantly reduced if prospective corps members were not required to travel long distances to undertake national service.

Ajayi said the organisation had consistently advocated a review of the NYSC deployment policy, particularly since 2021, to enable corps members to serve in their respective states or areas of domicile.

According to him, “The idea here is to reduce the tendency by a prospective corper to travel from one part of the country to another for the purpose of having to serve the country under the NYSC policy.”

He added: “We have repeated this call several times, especially whenever there are incidents of corpers being kidnapped or attacked in one way or the other. Some national newspapers have even written editorials endorsing our position.”

Afenifere noted that President Tinubu had already taken steps towards addressing some of the concerns surrounding the safety and effectiveness of the scheme.

Ajayi recalled that President Tinubu, in a statement posted on his X handle on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, announced that he had directed the Federal Ministries of Youth Development and Justice to commence the process of amending the NYSC Act and its subsidiary regulations to provide legal backing for reforms approved by the Federal Executive Council at its meeting on Monday, June 29, 2026.

The President had described the proposed reforms as the most consequential since the establishment of the NYSC scheme in 1973, saying they would enable every corps member to graduate from the service “better prepared for work, enterprise and national service”.

According to the President, the reforms would also make the scheme safer through the introduction of risk-based deployment, particularly in states facing security challenges.

Against this backdrop, Afenifere urged the relevant authorities to accelerate the amendment of the NYSC Act and ensure that the proposed reforms translate into concrete measures that would protect corps members.

The organisation specifically called for corps members to be posted to their states of origin or, at least, neighbouring states within the same geopolitical zone.

“The necessary amendments to the NYSC Act should be expedited so that corpers would be able to serve in their respective states or at least in neighbouring states within the same geopolitical zone as stated in President Tinubu’s statement quoted above.”

The Yoruba apex organisation further urged the NYSC to take interim measures to protect prospective corps members while awaiting the legislative amendments.

It called on the NYSC, “pending the necessary amendment of the corps’ Act, [to] allow graduates to serve within their states of origin, states of residence or states within their geopolitical zones.”

“Exigency or security imperative can be cited as the reason for this if anyone challenges the organisation for taking such a step.”

Afenifere also appealed to the Federal Government, security agencies and the governments of Oyo and Imo states to intensify efforts to rescue the abducted graduates without further delay.

“The method used to rescue victims of Oriire abduction can be employed in a modified form in line with the peculiar situation,” the organisation said.

The group’s intervention comes against the backdrop of renewed concerns over the safety of young Nigerians travelling across states for national service, particularly as kidnapping and banditry continue to threaten major inter-state routes.

Beyond the immediate NYSC crisis, Afenifere commended President Tinubu for approving the creation of new Army formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun states, saying the development would help shorten response times and bring troops closer to vulnerable communities.

The organisation noted that the newly approved formations were in addition to the four new Army divisional headquarters announced by the Presidency in July.

It recalled that the creation of the four additional divisional headquarters increased the number of Army divisions in the country from eight to 12.

The four new divisional headquarters and their locations are the 5 Division Headquarters in Makurdi, Benue State; 9 Division Headquarters in Ilorin, Kwara State; 10 Division Headquarters in Jalingo, Taraba State; and 83 Division Headquarters in Benin City, Edo State.

Afenifere said the expansion of military formations across the country would strengthen security surveillance, improve the proximity of troops to vulnerable communities and facilitate faster responses whenever security emergencies occur.

However, the organisation maintained that military expansion alone would not provide a lasting solution to the country’s kidnapping and banditry crisis.

It, therefore, renewed its call for the effective enforcement of the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, which provides a legal framework for detecting, preventing, prohibiting and punishing acts of terrorism, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

“Strict enforcement of the Act will reduce the menace of terrorism to the barest minimum,” Afenifere’s spokesman, Ajayi, emphasised.