The recent abduction of a member of the National Youth Service Corps, Rofiat Lawal, has again exposed the dangers facing young Nigerians undergoing the mandatory one-year national assignment and re-ignited the debate on the need to scrap or reform the scheme,  writes

It was cheering news for the family and friends of the kidnapped member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Rofiat Lawal as she recently 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 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.

For instance, on August 17, 2023, eight corps members were abducted in Zamfara en route Sokoto from Uyo in Akwa Ibom State. Some of the youths were in captivity for between five to 11 months before they finally regained their freedom after paying millions of naira as ransom.

Last November, corps member, Aisha Shittu, posted to Kaduna State, was kidnapped from her apartment at Baba Saura Estate, Maraba Rido, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The kidnappers had demanded N500 million from her family.

In December 2023, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) reported that at least 83 corps members were kidnapped across the country in the previous decade. 

It noted specifically that in the last five years, the frequency of kidnapping of corps members increased drastically compared to previous years. 

Sixty-three out of the 83 victims were reported kidnapped between 2018 and 2023. Rivers State recorded the highest number of cases, with at least 40 corps members kidnapped since 2013.

Sources have reported that kidnappers have made at least N80.1 million from the abduction of corps members alone between 2023 and 2025.

Despite NYSC’s claims that some of these victims were released through security efforts, accounts from survivors and their families consistently point to ransom payments by relatives of the victims before securing their freedom. 

The NYSC has continued to endanger the lives of young Nigerian graduates, sparking concerns about the relevance of the scheme, in the face of daunting insecurity.

Established in 1973 by Decree No 24 by the then head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), when “national unity” was a priority, its objectives were to help reconstruct, reconcile, rebuild, and reintegrate the country after the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970).

By posting young Nigerians to areas outside their states of origin, they would have the opportunity to know the country better, interact with other ethnic nationalities and communities, and thereby foster national integration. Moreover, they were to bring their skills to bear in those communities. The community service component of their service was deemed important to help provide sorely needed basic services and infrastructure in the rural areas.

Its defenders and many communities across the country testify that over the years, corps members have provided services such as medical services, engineering and social works in areas these skills were unavailable or in short supply.

Some corps members stay back after their service year and engage in inter-ethnic marriages.

In the past, nobody would have imagined any harm on corps members. In the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s, the NYSC uniform was treated with respect and dignity even by armed robbers.

Nigerians assisted corps members with free ride, free accommodation, free foodstuffs, among others.

But in the last 15 years, the situation has changed dramatically.

Corps members are no longer treated with dignity but are being killed and abducted for ransom.

But has the NYSC achieved its main objective of fostering national unity and integration?

For Gowon and other defenders of the scheme, the goal of “national unity” remains on course.

 However, Nigerians have continued to be divided along ethnic and religious lines, making mockery of the scheme.

They have never been so divided as they are now, despite the efforts to use the NYSC scheme to unite Nigerians.

Again, the incessant abductions and killing of corps members in the country have made the NYSC scheme unattractive to many young Nigerians.

In the riots that accompanied the 2011 presidential election, mobs killed over 800 persons in several northern states. Among them were youth corps members, deliberately targeted because they were non-indigenes.

In 2016, a corps member was killed during a rerun election in Rivers State, while many of them were exposed to harm during the 2019 elections.

Others have been kidnapped or died on the country’s dilapidated roads while commuting to and from their places of service. In the last election cycle, about 21 cases of corps members being attacked by non-state actors while performing their lawful duties were recorded.

In the past, travelling long distances by road was safe for corps members, unlike now that the highways have become unsafe.

The situation has become so bad these days that every prospective corps member is scared of collecting their call-up letters, especially if they cannot influence their postings.

Nobody wants to risk his or her life travelling to certain parts of the country for fear of insecurity.

Recently, due to the escalating security threats, the NYSC withdrew corps members serving in Mbaa, a volatile community in the Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.

Armed herders have made life really difficult for the people of the state in the last eight years.

“Why should any sane country risk the lives of its own young ones just because of the national unity narrative, which never existed anywhere?” one analyst passionately asked.

It is not surprising that many Nigerians now feel that this programme has outlived its usefulness.

If the government is not willing to scrap the programme, it should allow graduates to serve in their states of origin or the closest neighbouring states.