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By Oluseye Ojo
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has urged the Federal Government to urgently enforce the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, as part of measures to tackle kidnapping and banditry in the country.
The organisation also called for immediate conclusion of the ongoing reform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme to allow graduates to serve in their states of origin or residence, or at least within their geopolitical zones.
The position followed the abduction of 20 prospective corps members travelling from Oyo State to their places of deployment. They were abducted in Imo State.
Afenifere, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Jare Ajayi, yesterday, expressed dismay over the abduction and sympathised with the families of the victims.
It urged the Federal Government, security agencies and the Oyo and Imo State Governments to intensify efforts to rescue the abducted graduates within the shortest possible time.
The 20 graduates, who had departed from the Samonda area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday, September 30, with their NYSC call-up letters, were abducted the following day near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. The buses travelled towards Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State.
The abductors reportedly initially demanded N100 million ransom per victim before reducing the demand to N50 million per head and eventually N5 million per person on Sunday.
Afenifere said the risk of abduction would be significantly reduced if prospective corps members were not required to travel long distances for national service, particularly given the prevailing security situation.
Ajayi said Afenifere had, since 2021, repeatedly called on the Federal Government to review the NYSC policy to enable corps members to serve in their states or areas of domicile. “The idea here is to reduce the tendency by a prospective corps member to travel from one part of the country to another for the purpose of having to serve the country under the NYSC policy.”
Ajayi stated that the organisation had renewed the call whenever corps members were kidnapped or attacked, adding that some national newspapers had also published editorials supporting the position.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu, in a statement on his X handle on July 1, 2026, announced that he had directed the Federal Ministries of Youth Development and Justice to begin the process of amending the NYSC Act and its subsidiary regulations to give legal backing to reforms approved by the Federal Executive Council on June 29.
According to him, the President had described the reforms as the most consequential since the establishment of the NYSC scheme in 1973 and said they would make corps members better prepared for work, enterprise and national service.
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Tinubu had also said the reforms would make the scheme safer through risk-based deployment, particularly in security-challenged states.
Afenifere urged the relevant authorities to expedite the amendment of the NYSC Act, stressing that corps members should be allowed to serve in their states of origin or residence, or at least in neighbouring states within their geopolitical zones.
The organisation further urged the NYSC, pending the amendment of the Act, to immediately adopt the arrangement.
It said security exigency could be cited to justify the interim measure if the NYSC was challenged over the decision.
Afenifere also urged the security agencies and the Oyo and Imo state governments to urgently rescue the abducted graduates, suggesting that the method used in rescuing victims of the recent Oriire abduction in Oyo State could be adapted to suit the circumstances of the current incident.
The organisation, however, commended President Tinubu for approving the creation of new Army formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun states, saying the move would shorten response time and bring troops closer to vulnerable communities.
It noted that the new formations were in addition to four new Army divisional headquarters announced by the Presidency in July.
The four new divisional headquarters are the 5 Division in Makurdi, Benue State; 9 Division in Ilorin, Kwara State; 10 Division in Jalingo, Taraba State; and 83 Division in Benin City, Edo State.
Afenifere said the creation of the new formations and divisional headquarters, which increased the number of Army divisions from eight to 12, would strengthen security surveillance and facilitate quicker responses to security emergencies.
For a lasting solution to kidnapping and banditry, the organisation again called for strict enforcement of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
It said the law provides a legal framework for detecting, preventing, prohibiting and punishing acts of terrorism and terrorist financing, as well as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
“Strict enforcement of the Act will reduce the menace of terrorism to the barest minimum,” Ajayi said.
