The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed dismay over the kidnapping of graduates who were going for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
Twenty students, armed with their call-up letters, took off from the Samonda area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, and were among those kidnapped at a spot near Umunoha in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State on Thursday.
Their buses were travelling from Ibadan towards Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State.
In a statement on Monday, the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, also sympathised with families of the victims and proffered ideas on how to put a stop to such incidents.
While condemning the incident in its entirety, Afenifere observed that the risk of being kidnapped would greatly reduce if one did not have to travel such a long distance for the purpose of youth service “given the prevailing situation in the country”.
Ajayi said Afenifere, since as far back as 2021, has been calling on the Federal Government to review the NYSC policy with a view to enabling corps members to serve in their respective states or areas of domicile.
“The idea here is to reduce the tendency by a prospective corper to travel from one part of the country to another for the purpose of having to serve the country under the NYSC policy,” the statement read in part.
“We have repeated this call several times especially whenever there are incidents of corpers being kidnapped or attacked in one way or the other. Some national newspapers have even written editorials endorsing our position.”
But the Afenifere spokesman added that “thankfully, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, in a statement on his X handle of Wednesday, July 1, 2026, announced that he has directed the Federal Ministries of Youth Development and Justice to begin the process of amending the NYSC Act and its subsidiary regulations to give legal backing to the reforms that were approved by the Federal Executive Council at its meeting on Monday, June 29, 2026.”
It urged those concerned to expedite actions on effecting necessary amendments to the NYSC Act so that corpers would be able to serve in their respective states or at least in neighbouring states within the same geopolitical zone.
The Yoruba apex organisation called on the NYSC to, “pending the necessary amendment of the corps’ Act, allow graduates to serve within their states of origin, states of residence or states within their geopolitical zones. Exigency or security imperative can be cited as the reason for this if anyone challenges the organisation for taking such a step.”
The body urged federal security agencies and the Oyo and Imo state governments to quicken actions on rescuing the victims within the shortest possible time.
It said, “The method used to rescue victims of Oriire abduction can be employed in a modified form in line with the peculiar situation.”
In a similar vein, Afenifere commended President Bola Tinubu for approving the creation of new Army formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo, and Osun states with a view to shortening the response period and bringing troops closer to vulnerable communities. These new formations are in addition to the four new army divisional headquarters announced in July by the Presidency.
“The four new divisional army headquarters raised such divisions in the country from eight to 12. The new headquarters and their locations as announced then were: 5 Division Headquarters: Located in Makurdi, Benue State; 9 Division Headquarters: Located in Ilorin, Kwara State; 10 Division Headquarters: Located in Jalingo, Taraba State; and 83 Division Headquarters: Located in Benin City, Edo State.
Afenifere was of the opinion that this increase in military bases would strengthen security surveillance and quicken responses to security emergencies.
“As for a lasting solution to kidnapping and banditry, Afenifere again advocated for the enforcement of the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
“The Act provides an appropriate legal framework for detecting, preventing, prohibiting, and punishing acts of terrorism, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. “Strict enforcement of the Act will reduce the menace of terrorism to the barest minimum,” Afenifere said.
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