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 on Saturday in a post on X, reacting to the abduction of young Nigerians travelling to their orientation camps for the mandatory national service programme.
The prospective corps members were among passengers abducted when gunmen attacked two buses along 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 when the attackers intercepted the buses.
The incident has renewed concerns over the safety of young Nigerians who are required to travel outside their home states as part of the NYSC programme, particularly against the backdrop of persistent insecurity in parts of the country.
Reacting to the development, Sowore argued that graduates should not be compelled to undertake long-distance journeys for national service when their safety cannot be guaranteed.
He said the NYSC had “outlived its usefulness in its present form,” noting that he had maintained the position since his first presidential campaign in 2019.
“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,” he said.
“The NYSC should be suspended immediately and ultimately scrapped. In the meantime, all corps members should be given the option to serve within their states of origin.”
Sowore also proposed replacing the existing scheme with what he described as a two-year voluntary National Job Corps under a potential “Sowore 2027 presidency.”
According to him, the proposed programme would focus on employment, skills development, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare, education and other areas of national development.
“Young Nigerians need jobs, opportunities, skills and security, not compulsory deployment into danger,” he said.
Meanwhile, security agencies have intensified efforts to rescue the abducted prospective corps members and other passengers taken during the attack.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the rescue operation. Two commissioners of police were also deployed to support the effort.
Reports said the abductors demanded N50 million for each of 19 prospective corps members, amounting to N950 million.
The incident has further intensified calls for stronger security measures around the movement and deployment of prospective corps members, while also reopening the broader debate over the relevance, structure and safety of Nigeria’s compulsory national youth service scheme.