Rising security concerns across Nigeria are compelling numerous National Youth Service Corps members to avoid orientation camps, citing legitimate fears of abduction and violent attacks during travel.
Graduates Voice Safety Concerns
Young graduates assigned to volatile regions express increasing apprehension about kidnapping incidents, bandit assaults, and highway ambushes while journeying to their designated service states. Multiple prospective corps members communicated with our publication, emphasizing that the mandatory one-year service program has become both hazardous and outdated in its current structure.
Mr. Adebowale Saheed, an Osun State native posted to Abia State for the 2025 Batch A service year, confirmed he refused to depart from home due to abduction fears. He explained: "The route from Southwest to Southeast regions has become dangerously insecure. I cannot endanger my life solely for NYSC participation. Excessive kidnapping incidents occur along major highways. I informed my parents I will not be traveling."
He stressed that while he supports national unity concepts, this shouldn't require risking lives when security agencies cannot ensure safe passage for citizens.
Questions About NYSC Relevance
Another prospective corps member, Sodiq, voiced profound frustration regarding what he characterized as the "declining significance" of the NYSC scheme. He contends that the dangers young graduates must confront substantially outweigh the program's benefits.
"If not for existing beneficiaries, what tangible contribution does this mandatory program make toward national development currently?" Sodiq questioned. "Each NYSC camp opening coincides with automobile accidents claiming promising graduates' lives—individuals who represent their families', communities', and Nigeria's future."
Sodiq, who believes the scheme hasn't adapted to contemporary realities, proposed converting the one-year service into technology or agriculture-focused capacity development initiatives.
"Graduates could utilize that year learning technological or agricultural skills that would enhance self-employment opportunities and contribute meaningfully to national development. Instead, we're risking lives for an outdated system," he added.
Military Intervention in Borno
Earlier this month, Operation Hadin Kai troops successfully rescued 74 National Youth Service Corps members from potential terrorist abduction along Buratai–Kamuya road in Borno State.
This development was confirmed in a November 27 statement by Operation Hadin Kai Media Information Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Sani Uba. He detailed that the rescued corps members—comprising 36 males and 38 females—were traveling in three buses when their vehicles experienced mechanical failure near a recognized kidnapping hotspot around 9:05 p.m. on Tuesday.
Uba explained that military personnel were deployed after closed-circuit television monitoring detected suspicious movement of the stranded buses in the area.
"Upon arrival, troops identified the passengers as NYSC members stranded due to vehicle mechanical failures. The military team immediately secured the perimeter and rescued them from probable abduction attempts by Boko Haram or ISWAP terrorists operating in that vicinity," he stated.
The military spokesperson confirmed that rescued corps members received transportation to Buratai military base for safety, pending arrangements for continued travel to their final destinations.
The security situation continues generating serious concerns among young graduates and their families nationwide, with many questioning whether the NYSC program requires fundamental restructuring or replacement with more relevant national service initiatives.
