Afenifere Demands Urgent NYSC Reform After Kidnap of 20 Graduates
…Group urges FG to allow corps members serve in states of origin, residence
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed deep 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 argued that forcing young Nigerians to undertake long-distance journeys for national service amid worsening insecurity exposes them unnecessarily to kidnapping and other security risks.
Afenifere’s position was contained in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, on Monday, 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, Abia State.
The 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 had once again exposed the urgent need to review the deployment structure of the NYSC scheme.
According to Ajayi, “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.”
He 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.”
The Afenifere spokesman said the organisation was encouraged by President Bola Tinubu’s July 1 announcement that his administration had commenced steps towards reforming the NYSC scheme.
Ajayi recalled that President Tinubu, in a statement posted on his X handle on July 1, announced that he had directed the Federal Ministries of Youth Development and Justice to begin the process of amending the NYSC Act and its subsidiary regulations to give legal backing to reforms approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting of June 29.
He noted that the president had described the proposed changes as “the most consequential since the establishment of the NYSC scheme in 1973”.
According to Ajayi, the reforms were designed not only to prepare corps members better for “work, enterprise and national service”, but also to make the scheme safer through risk-based deployment, particularly in security-challenged states.
Afenifere therefore urged the relevant authorities to move beyond the announcement and complete the legislative process without further delay.
“We urge those concerned to expedite actions on effecting necessary amendments to the NYSC Act so that corps members 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,” the organisation said.
Afenifere further urged the NYSC management to take immediate administrative measures to reduce the risks faced by prospective corps members pending the amendment of the law.
It said: “Pending the necessary amendment of the Corps’ Act, 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.”
The organisation also appealed to the Federal Government, security agencies and the governments of Oyo and Imo States to intensify efforts to rescue the abducted graduates alive and within the shortest possible time.
Afenifere said lessons could be drawn from the strategy adopted in rescuing victims of the Oriire abduction, although such an approach would have to be “employed in a modified form in line with the peculiar situation”.
Beyond the immediate rescue operation, the organisation argued that the latest abduction should compel the government to confront the broader security challenges that continue to threaten Nigerians on highways and other vulnerable routes.
In this regard, Afenifere commended President Tinubu for approving the creation of new army formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun States.
The organisation said bringing troops closer to vulnerable communities would help shorten response time and strengthen surveillance against kidnappers, bandits and other criminal elements.
Afenifere noted that the newly approved formations came in addition to the four new army divisional headquarters announced by the Presidency in July, which increased the number of army divisions in the country from eight to 12.
The four new divisional headquarters 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.
The organisation said the expansion of military formations was a positive development that could improve the country’s capacity to respond rapidly to security emergencies.
“Afenifere commends President Bola Tinubu for approving the creation of new Army formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun States with a view to shortening response period and bringing troops closer to vulnerable communities,” it said.
The group, however, stressed that military expansion alone could not provide a lasting solution to kidnapping, banditry and terrorism.
It therefore renewed its call for the effective enforcement of the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, arguing that the law provides the legal framework required to confront 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,” Ajayi stressed.
For Afenifere, the abduction of the prospective corps members should therefore serve as another warning that security considerations must become central to the administration of the NYSC scheme.
The organisation maintained that national service should not expose young Nigerians to avoidable danger and urged the government to translate its July reform promise into concrete action before more prospective corps members become victims of insecurity.