African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has called for the immediate suspension and eventual scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps scheme following the abduction of prospective corps members in Imo State.
Sowore made the call in a post on X on Saturday, arguing that the incident highlighted the risks faced by young Nigerians who are required to travel across the country for national service.
The prospective corps members were among passengers abducted after gunmen attacked two buses on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday.
The victims were reportedly travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The Imo State Police Command later announced that some of the victims had been rescued, while security agencies continued efforts to locate those still missing.
Reacting to the incident, Sowore said the NYSC had “outlived its usefulness in its present form,” adding that he had advocated the position since his first presidential bid in 2019.
He said, “You cannot force young Nigerians to ‘serve their fatherland’ when the same country cannot guarantee their safety while they travel to their places of service.”
Sowore called for the scheme to be suspended immediately and eventually abolished, while proposing that corps members should, in the interim, be allowed to serve within their states of origin.
He also proposed replacing the NYSC with a two-year voluntary National Job Corps under what he described as a “Sowore 2027 presidency.”
According to him, the proposed programme would focus on areas including employment, skills acquisition, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare and education.
“Young Nigerians need jobs, opportunities, skills and security, not compulsory deployment into danger,” he said.
Meanwhile, security agencies have intensified efforts to rescue the remaining abducted prospective corps members and other victims of the attack.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the rescue operation. Two commissioners of police were also deployed to support the operation.
Reports also indicated that the abductors demanded N50m each for 19 prospective corps members, bringing the alleged ransom demand to N950m.
The incident has renewed concerns over the safety of young Nigerians travelling between states under the compulsory national service programme.
