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Afenifere Demands NYSC Reform After Abduction Of 20 Graduates
Afenifere has expressed dismay over the abduction of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members travelling from Ibadan to their places of primary assignment.
The group urged the federal government to urgently implement promised reforms to make the scheme safer for young Nigerians.
The organisation also called on the federal government to expedite amendments to the NYSC Act to enable graduates serve in their states of origin, residence or, at least, within their geopolitical zones.
It stated that forcing young Nigerians to undertake long-distance journeys for national service amid worsening insecurity exposed them unnecessarily to kidnapping and other security risks.
Afenifere’s position was contained in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, in which it sympathised with the families of the abducted graduates and urged security agencies and the governments of Oyo and Imo states to intensify efforts to secure their immediate release.
The 20 graduates, who reportedly departed from the Samonda area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday, September 30, armed with their NYSC call-up letters, were abducted around Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State while travelling towards Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, AbiaState.
Imo State Police Command confirmed the incident.
The kidnappers were initially reported to have demanded N100 million ransom per victim before reportedly reducing the demand to N5 million per person by Sunday.
Afenifere condemned the abduction, saying the incident has once again exposed the urgent need to review the deployment structure of the NYSC scheme.
“The risk of being kidnapped would greatly reduce if one does not have to travel such a long distance for the purpose of youth service, given the prevailing situation in the country,” it stated.
Ajayi recalled that Afenifere had, since 2021, repeatedly called on the federal government to review the NYSC policy to enable corps members serve in their states or areas of domicile.
Ajayi said, “The idea here is to reduce the tendency by a prospective corps member to travel from one part of the country to another for the purpose of having to serve the country under the NYSC policy.
“We have repeated this call several times, especially whenever there are incidents of corps members being kidnapped or attacked in one way or the other. Some national newspapers have even written editorials endorsing our position.”
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