By Adebayo Obajemu
Mounting insecurity, particularly kidnapping and killing of corps members, has ignited nationwide calls for the Nigerian government to scrap or suspend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
These calls have come from parents, stakeholders and advocacy groups, who continue to argue that the mandatory scheme is too dangerous without guaranteed protection for young graduates participating in the required one year scheme.
Recent incidents include the one that occured in Katsina state in May this year where armed bandits ambushed a vehicle on the Jikamshi–Funtua road, killing a corps member named Saidu Nasir (also known as Kalipha) along with three others.
In Abuja (April 2026) a serving NYSC member, Abdulsamad Jamiu, tragically lost his life in the Dei-Dei area during an intense exchange of gunfire between the Nigerian Army and armed assailants.
Early this month too, reports emerged of an abducted NYSC member who was killed by his captors even after his family reportedly paid a N10 million ransom. A distressing video had previously circulated showing the victim being brutalized by the terrorists while pleading for help.
In February 2026 in Enugu reports indicated that NYSC members were among 35 passengers kidnapped by gunmen in Enugu State. The kidnappers subsequently demanded millions of Naira for their release. As of the time of filling this report, no information as to their whereabouts , whether they have been set free or not by their abductors.
There was a high profile abduction that shocked the nation. In June 2025 armed bandits targeted and successfully abducted a former Director General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd), along with nine others, during a raid on his residence in Katsina State. He was later released after a reported ransom of N180 million.
In 2024, Chiamaka Obi , an NYSC member was abducted along the Niger-Onitsha expressway while returning home after completing her service year in Kebbi State.
Adebayo Okiokiolu, Principal of Hope College, a private school in Abule Egba, called for scrapping of the scheme saying, “It’s no longer relevant. The aim has been defaulted by the widening faultlines between North and South more than fifty years after the scheme started.
This view was shared by Barrister Chidi Aniagolu, who told BH that “I’m surprised that the Federal Government has not scrapped the scheme. It has outlived its usefulness. With the high level of insecurity we have the scheme is exposing thousands of our young graduates to danger while going to places of their orientation and primary assignment. Many have been killed and a great number kidnapped for ransom. Government should either scrap it or suspend until the time security has improved.
Dr. Awotelu Olubi, a political scientist, in a chat with BH noted that “The recent senseless killings of National Youth Service Corp, NYSC, members serving in various parts of the country is unacceptable and must be immediately addressed by security agencies. The true essence of the NYSC scheme is to engender national integration and unity in the country. For this reason, university and polytechnic graduates are posted to various parts of the country to serve their father land.
Over the years, the scheme has been highly successful until recently when the economic and security situation in the country prompted many to call for a review of the scheme. Since the onset of the Boko Haram terrorism challenge, a good number of young graduates serving in the scheme have lost their lives mostly in the northern part of the country. An unconfirmed report estimated that over 500 corp members have so far been killed by Boko Haram terrorists in the last five years. The number is also estimated to rise as the mayhem unleashed on the country by the sect continues unabated.
Dangers Without Gains
A member of the Kogi State University Senate who preferred not to be named, told Business Hallmark that “the exigency of the time calls for scrapping of the scheme. “You can not continue to put the lives of young graduates on the line for a scheme that has lost its relevance. It’s like we are intentionally putting their lives in the harm’s way. It should not be so. How many children of the elite have been kidnapped? It will not happen. They don’t travel by road and once they land in airport, waiting for them are armed escorts to ensure their safety.”
Professor Abdullah Abubakar, a psychologist, told Business Hallmark that “any corps member kidnapped and ransomed will develop anti- patriotic feelings for their country. The feeling of betrayal, of being let down by their country will register in their subconscious. Some of them may even seek way of seeking greener pastures in a safer clime and may not return to the country. If government can not ensure their safety, then it must scrap the program outright.
It was cheering news for the family and friends of the kidnapped member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Rofiat Lawal when she regained her freedom.
Lawal, who was honouring the mandatory one-year national service after graduating from the university, was kidnapped along the Benin-Ore Expressway late last year while en route to Ibadan, Oyo State, from Benin City, Edo State, to resume at her place of primary assignment.
The abductors were said to have demanded N20 million ransom, but following the back-and-forth negotiations, the kidnappers reportedly reduced the ransom to N5million.
After four days of harrowing experience in captivity, Lawal regained her freedom after paying N1.1 million that was raised through the collective efforts and generosity of a few persons.
Narrating her ordeal, Lawal disclosed that her abductors, who were Fulanis, threatened to force her into marriage and take her to Sokoto if her family refused to pay a ransom.
She further revealed that one of the kidnappers took her NYSC uniform and wore it.
Lawal was not the only corps member whose family had to part with huge sums of money for the freedom of their children from the kidnappers’ den.
Many Nigerians and groups have been calling for the scrapping of the NYSC scheme due to the nationwide insecurity, which has made the mandatory service life-threatening.
In recent months, at least 12 corps members have been kidnapped for ransom, highlighting a growing threat to young Nigerians serving in the corps.
Since 2009, armed bandits and kidnappers frequently target corps members traveling on high-risk highways or in vulnerable regions such as rural areas where some of them are posted to for their primary assignment.
The calls for the scrap have become more stringent in recent months following the reported rescuing of 74 youth corps members in Borno state who were on the verge of being kidnapped last year before their rescue by troops.
In the wake of the rescue , The Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (PTAN) mounted unrelenting pressure on the Federal Government, urging immediate suspension of the scheme; if the state could not protect participating youths.
Many human rights organizations, including Transparency International and Human Rights Watch have urged the federal government to provide special protection for corps members, and have criticized the deployment of young graduates to high-risk states, urging authorities to halt such postings given the high level of insecurity.
To underscore the severity of the calls, the National Assembly has also responded by sponsoring bills seeking to repeal the NYSC Act, citing incessant kidnappings, violence, and the fact that the scheme no longer guarantees youth employment. Though the bills have not been vigorously pursued, the danger being faced by corps members persist.
Critics and citizens on different social media platforms like Facebook argue the original national integration goal has been defeated. Many are demanding the government replace the service year with financial take-off grants for new graduates.
There was a high profile abduction that shocked the nation. In June 2025 armed bandits targeted and successfully abducted a former Director General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd), along with nine others, during a raid on his residence in Katsina State. He was later released after a reported ransom of N180 million.
In 2024, Chiamaka Obi , an NYSC member was abducted along the Niger-Onitsha expressway while returning home after completing her service year in Kebbi State.
In October 2021, two members of the National Youth Service Corps, Jennifer Iorliam and Joseph Aondona, who were abducted on their way to the NYSC Orientation Camp in Kebbi State, were released after their abductors collected a ransom of N9m.
The victims reportedly boarded a bus from Benue State to Sokoto state before their vehicle was intercepted around the Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State. They were supposed to board another bus from Sokoto to their destination in Kebbi State.
The bus driver and some passengers were said to have escaped and reported the incident at police stations in Zamfara and Benue states.
Amid the telecommunications shutdown in many parts of Zamfara at the time, the bandits reached out to the victims’ families, demanding N2m ransom for each of them.
Iorliam’s elder sister, Judith Benson, who spoke to journalists said the kidnappers released her sister and other victims after collecting N9m.
Smothered By Nation Aim
For more than five decades, Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has been a cornerstone of the country’s post-civil war nation-building effort.
Established in 1973 after the Nigerian Civil War, the program requires university graduates under 30 to spend a year serving outside their home states.
The policy was designed to rebuild trust between regions divided by the war and to expose young Nigerians to different cultures.
A security expert interviewed by Business Hallmark proposed several reforms, ranging from armed escorts for corps members traveling through high-risk areas to safer deployment policies, and government-funded insurance covering kidnapping, injury, or death during service.
Dr. Ojokojo Enikanse, a security expert said stronger protections are overdue.
“Families currently carry most of the financial burden,” he told BH.
“The state must take greater responsibility for protecting these young Nigerians”, he added.