Is NYSC Still Relevant?

The recent abduction of a National Youth Service Corps member Abba Musa has renewed concerns about the safety of corps members across Nigeria, amid persistent banditry and mass kidnappings, and reignited calls for the reform or scrapping of the scheme, Davidson Iriekpen writes

A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Abba Musa, last Tuesday regained his freedom after 70 days in captivity in the hands of bandits, following prolonged negotiations and sustained pressure from concerned Nigerians who had tracked the case since his abduction.

The initial efforts to secure his freedom included a ransom payment of N10 million, which failed to lead to his release. Subsequently, two motorcycles were also delivered to the captors, yet they still refused to let him go.

However, following the payment of an additional N3.5 million, the victim was finally set free, an outcome his family describes as divine intervention.

In a disturbing video circulating online, Musa, who was honouring the mandatory one-year national service upon graduation, was seen on February 28, 2026, crying out for urgent help after bandits subjected him to severe torture in captivity. The nefarious elements repeatedly beat, kicked and humiliated the corps member while he desperately pleaded for his life.

In the video, the helpless corps member speaking in Hausa, was seen surrounded by bandits who continuously flogged and assaulted him despite his repeated appeals in the name of God. The footage showed the visibly exhausted and injured corps member lying helplessly on the ground as the attackers struck him mercilessly with long sticks while others punched and kicked him without restraint. The brutality escalated further as the bandits stood on the abducted corps member’s chest and repeatedly jumped on it while continuing to flog him.

Throughout the video, the victim could be heard crying and begging Nigerians for intervention, saying his life was slipping away due to the relentless torture. 

“Please help me for God’s sake, please help my life. I may soon die in this situation,” the distraught corps member pleaded in agony. “For the sake of Allah, please help me. For the sake of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), please help me. Please help my life,” he repeatedly cried out.

Musa’s abduction and his agonizing experience have raised concerns about the safety of NYSC members, especially those deployed to areas affected by insecurity across Nigeria in the face of banditry and mass abductions that have continued to plague several parts of Nigeria, with students, travellers and youth corps members increasingly becoming targets of kidnappers seeking ransom payments.

Musa’s case is not a one-off. In recent months, over 22 corps members have been kidnapped for ransom, highlighting a growing threat to young Nigerians serving in the corps.

In February 2025, Rofiat Lawal was kidnapped along the Benin-Ore Expressway while en route to Ibadan from Benin City 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 N5 million.  

After four days of a harrowing experience in captivity, Lawal regained her freedom after paying N1.1 million, which was raised through the collective efforts and generosity of a few individuals.

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

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 in November 2024. 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 reportedly 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. This has sparked concerns about the relevance of the scheme, in the face of daunting insecurity.

Established in 1973 by Decree No. 24, the then head of state, General 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 work in areas where 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 to 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 rides, free accommodation, and free foodstuffs, among others. But in the last 15 years, the situation has changed dramatically.

A recurring question has been whether the NYSC has 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 a mockery of the scheme.

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

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 their 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.

With all these happenings, it is not surprising that many Nigerians feel that this programme has outlived its usefulness.

So, 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.