Sowore Demands Immediate Scrapping Of NYSC After 19 Corps Members Were Abducted In Imo
The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom when gunmen reportedly attacked their two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday.
Fiery human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has called for the immediate suspension and eventual scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) following the abduction of 19 prospective corps members in Imo State.
The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom when gunmen reportedly attacked their two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday.
Isiah Akpan, the Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, said the abductors had demanded N50 million for each victim, putting the total ransom at N950 million.
Reacting in a post on X, Sowore said the incident reinforced his longstanding position that the NYSC had “outlived its usefulness in its present form.”
“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 wrote.
Sowore called for the immediate suspension of the scheme and its eventual abolition, proposing that corps members should, in the interim, be allowed to serve within their states of origin.
He said that under a Sowore presidency, the NYSC would be replaced with a two-year voluntary National Job Corps focused on employment, skills development, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare and education.
Abduction Of Youth Corps Members: Time To Suspend And Then Scrap the @officialnyscng Scheme Is Now It has been my consistent position since 2019, during my first run for the presidency, that the National Youth Service Corps (@officialnyscng ) has outlived its usefulness in its present form. The recent abduction of young Nigerians travelling to their NYSC orientation camps along the Owerri–Onitsha Road once again exposes the danger of compelling our young people to travel across an increasingly insecure country in the name of national service. 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. 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. No young Nigerian should be forced to travel hundreds of kilometres into unfamiliar and insecure territory simply to fulfil a compulsory national service requirement. Under a #Sowore2027 presidency, we will replace the NYSC with a new two year voluntary National Job Corps focused on real employment, skills development, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare, education and other productive national priorities. Young Nigerians need jobs, opportunities, skills and security, not compulsory deployment into danger. The time to suspend the NYSC is NOW. The time to scrap this outdated scheme has come. #Sowore2027 #TakeItBack
— Omoyele Sowore (@sowore) October 3, 2026
“Young Nigerians need jobs, opportunities, skills and security, not compulsory deployment into danger,” he said.
According to Akpan, the buses left Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday but were delayed by traffic around Benin City before reaching Onitsha, where the passengers spent the night.
They resumed the journey around 5am Thursday but were ambushed after entering Imo State.
“They blocked the two vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush,” Akpan said.
The drivers reportedly escaped and alerted security operatives, who launched a search for the victims.
Sowore said the incident further demonstrated the risks faced by young Nigerians under the compulsory service scheme.
“The time to suspend the NYSC is NOW. The time to scrap this outdated scheme has come,” he said.
