Omoyele Sowore has called for the immediate suspension and eventual scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps following the abduction of prospective corps members travelling to their orientation camps in Imo State.
The African Action Congress presidential candidate made the call after gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday, October 1, 2026.
The buses were carrying graduates travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The incident has raised fresh concerns about the safety of young Nigerians who are required to travel outside their states of origin for the compulsory national service programme.
Sowore, in a post on X on Saturday, argued that the latest incident showed the danger involved in compelling graduates to undertake long-distance journeys in a country where insecurity remains a major concern.
He said the NYSC had “outlived its usefulness in its present form,” adding that his position on the scheme had remained the same 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.
“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.”
The AAC candidate said graduates should not be compelled to leave their states and travel through areas considered vulnerable to criminal attacks simply because they have been deployed for national service.
According to him, the government has a responsibility to provide a safe environment for young Nigerians participating in any national programme.
Sowore also proposed an alternative to the existing scheme under what he described as a “Sowore 2027 presidency”.
He said his proposed programme would be a two-year voluntary National Job Corps designed to give young Nigerians opportunities in employment, skills development, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare and education.
“Young Nigerians need jobs, opportunities, skills and security, not compulsory deployment into danger,” he said.
The proposal comes as security agencies continue efforts to locate the abducted graduates and other passengers taken during the attack.
The Imo State Police Command confirmed that gunmen attacked two buses travelling from Ibadan towards orientation camps in the South-East and South-South.
The attack occurred at about 6:30am around Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area. Police said some victims were rescued following the intervention of security agencies, while efforts continued to establish the exact number of people still in captivity.
The security response was later strengthened after Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State.
Nadada arrived in the state with two Commissioners of Police and assessed the ongoing search-and-rescue operation.
He also reviewed the deployment of personnel and operational resources before issuing further directives aimed at strengthening the operation.
The Nigerian Army has also been involved in the rescue effort. Troops of the 34 Artillery Brigade, working alongside personnel from the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, rescued 10 prospective corps members in the aftermath of the attack, according to an operational report cited by the News Agency of Nigeria.
The rescued victims were handed over to the DSS for debriefing and further assistance.
However, the development remained a major concern for families of those still missing.
A report on Saturday indicated that abductors had demanded N50 million for each of 19 prospective corps members. If applied to all 19 victims, the demand amounts to N950 million.
The affected graduates were reportedly travelling in two buses operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited.
The buses had reportedly departed from the Bodija/Samonda area of Ibadan on Wednesday.
Traffic around Benin, Edo State, delayed their movement before they eventually reached Onitsha, Anambra State.
The travellers reportedly spent the night in Oba before continuing their journey early Thursday morning.
In March, similar concerns were raised after reports of kidnappings and attacks involving corps members in different parts of the country.
A call was made for the government to discontinue the scheme if it could not guarantee the safety of participants.
The latest incident comes at a time when the Federal Government is already pursuing changes to the NYSC scheme.
In July, President Bola Tinubu approved an overhaul of the programme following recommendations presented to the Federal Executive Council.
The government said the reform process was intended to make the scheme more relevant to current national needs, while the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Youth Development were directed to begin work on amendments to the NYSC Act and related regulations.
