Sowore Calls for Suspension, Scrapping of NYSC After Corps Members’ Abduction

By Ameh Sunday Enyo-ojo

Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has called for the immediate suspension and eventual scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme following the abduction of prospective corps members in Imo State.

Sowore made the call in a post on his official social media handle, reacting to the abduction of young Nigerians travelling to NYSC orientation camps along the Owerri–Onitsha Road.

The Imo State Police Command confirmed that prospective corps members and other passengers were abducted after gunmen attacked two buses near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in the South-East and South-South.

The police later announced that security operatives had rescued 10 victims, while search-and-rescue operations continued for others still believed to be in captivity.

Reacting to the incident, Sowore said the NYSC had “outlived its usefulness in its present form,” noting that he had held the position since his first presidential bid 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.

Sowore called for the immediate suspension of the NYSC and its eventual replacement, proposing that corps members should, in the interim, be allowed to serve within their states of origin.

He argued that young Nigerians should not be compelled to travel hundreds of kilometres to unfamiliar areas to fulfil a compulsory national service requirement amid the country’s security challenges.

Under what he described as a “Sowore 2027 presidency,” the AAC candidate proposed replacing the NYSC with a two-year voluntary National Job Corps.

According to Sowore, 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.

Sowore concluded by reiterating his call for the immediate suspension of the NYSC, saying the time had come to replace what he described as an outdated compulsory national service scheme.