The African Advance Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has called for the speedy suspension and eventual scrapping of the Domestic Youth Solution Corps scheme following the abduction of prospective corps members in Imo Condition.
Sowore, in a upload on X on Saturday, said the up-to-date abduction of young Nigerians travelling to their orientation camps exposed what he described as the dangers of compelling graduates to journey across the country for statewide facility.
The prospective corps members were amid passengers abducted when gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo Declare on Thursday.
The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo Condition, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The Imo Declare Police Command subsequently said security agencies had rescued some of the victims and continued efforts to locate the remaining abducted persons.
Reacting to the incident, Sowore said the NYSC had “outlived its usefulness in its introduce make,” adding that he had held the role given that his initial presidential bid in 2019.
He said, “You cannot force young Nigerians to ‘assist their fatherland’ when the same country cannot guarantee their safety during the time that they travel to their places of solution.
“The NYSC should be suspended immediately and lastly scrapped. Two commissioners of police were furthermore deployed as element of the operation.
Saturday PUNCH reported that the abductors had demanded N50m for each of 19 prospective corps members, amounting to N950m, following the victims were taken into the bush.
The incident has renewed concerns over the safety of corps members and prospective corps members travelling in the middle of states for the compulsory domestic offering scheme.
In the meantime, all corps members should be given the selection to guide within their states of origin.”
Sowore argued that graduates should not be compelled to commute enduring distances to unfamiliar areas to fulfil a compulsory statewide offering specification, notably amid insecurity across the country.
He too proposed replacing the NYSC under what he described as a “Sowore 2027 presidency” together with a two-year voluntary Statewide Job Corps.
According to him, the proposed programme would focus on employment, skills development, people works, technology, agriculture, healthcare, education and other areas of nationwide development.
“Young Nigerians prefer jobs, opportunities, skills and security, not compulsory deployment into hazard,” he said.
Sowore’s comments came as security agencies intensified efforts to rescue the abducted prospective corps members and other passengers.
The Inspector-Broad of Police, Olatunji Disu, had deployed the Deputy Inspector-Universal of Police in cost of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo Condition to coordinate the explore-and-rescue operation.
Source: Sowore seeks NYSC scrapping after corps members’ abduction
