…Group Urges FG To Allow Graduates Serve In States Of Origin, Residence Or Geopolitical zones
Daud Olatunji
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed outrage over the abduction of about 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their states of deployment.
The victims, who reportedly left the Samonda area of Ibadan on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, were kidnapped the following day near Umunoha in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
The prospective corps members, who were travelling in buses from Ibadan towards Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State, were said to be carrying their NYSC call-up letters when the incident occurred.
Reacting to the development in a statement on Monday, Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, described the abduction as disturbing and renewed the organisation’s call for a fundamental review of the NYSC deployment policy.
Afenifere argued that forcing young graduates to embark on long-distance journeys across states for national service had become increasingly dangerous amid the worsening security situation in parts of the country.
The group said it had, since 2021, repeatedly called on the Federal Government to amend the NYSC policy to enable corps members to serve in their states of origin, residence or nearby states.
According to Ajayi, reducing unnecessary interstate movements by prospective corps members would significantly reduce their exposure to kidnapping and other security threats.
Afenifere said, “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.”
The organisation noted that President Bola Tinubu had already indicated support for reforms to the scheme.
It recalled that the President, in a statement on 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 on June 29.
Afenifere therefore urged the relevant authorities to accelerate the amendment of the NYSC Act.
It specifically called for a system that would allow prospective corps members to serve within their states of origin or residence, or at least within states in the same geopolitical zone.
The group further urged the NYSC, pending the amendment of the law, to adopt the proposed arrangement on security grounds.
It said the prevailing security challenges constituted sufficient justification for allowing graduates to serve closer to home while the legal framework was being amended.
‘Rescue victims without delay’
Afenifere also called on security agencies and the Oyo and Imo State governments to intensify efforts to secure the release of the abducted prospective corps members.
The organisation urged authorities to deploy every available intelligence and operational resource to locate and rescue the victims safely.
It suggested that the strategy reportedly used in rescuing victims of the Oriire abduction could be adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the latest incident.
The group also sympathised with the families of the abducted graduates, saying the development had further exposed the dangers confronting young Nigerians travelling across the country.
Afenifere backs new Army formations
Beyond the immediate abduction, Afenifere commended the Federal Government for approving new Army formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun states.
According to the organisation, bringing military formations closer to vulnerable communities would improve surveillance and reduce response time during security emergencies.
It also welcomed the creation of four additional Army divisional headquarters announced by the Presidency in July, saying the expansion would strengthen the military’s capacity to respond to security threats.
Afenifere, however, maintained that military expansion alone could not provide a lasting solution to kidnapping and banditry.
The group consequently called for the strict enforcement of the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
It argued that effective implementation of the law would strengthen efforts to detect, prevent and punish terrorism, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
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