By Emmanuel Thomas l Sunday, Oct.04, 2026
LAGOS — The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has strongly condemned the recent kidnapping of approximately 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members. Obi described the incident as a “distressing indication of worsening insecurity” across the nation and declared that state failure must never be accepted as the default standard of Nigerian life.
Obi’s reaction comes in the wake of reports detailing how a group of young graduates, traveling across state lines to report to their designated NYSC orientation camps, were intercepted and marched into the bush by heavily armed bandits.
The attack has once again thrown light on the perilous state of Nigeria’s interstate highways and reignited widespread public anxiety over the safety of youth corps members deployed for national service.
In an official press statement released on Sunday, October 4, 2026, the former Anambra State governor expressed deep sorrow over the ordeal of the young graduates and the trauma inflicted on their families. He emphasized that citizens undertaking national assignments should not have to gamble with their lives on highway corridors.
”The abduction of approximately 20 prospective NYSC members travelling to their orientation camp is yet another distressing indication of the worsening insecurity in our country,” Obi stated.
“These young Nigerians were preparing to serve their nation, but they were unable to travel safely on our roads. Families are increasingly burdened by the fear that their loved ones could fall victim to kidnapping.”
Obi criticized what he characterized as a reactive approach to national security by federal authorities. He noted that governance loses its core purpose when the state repeatedly fails to secure the free movement of its citizenry.
”Protecting lives and property is the government’s foremost responsibility,” he asserted. “We cannot continue to regard insecurity as an ordinary occurrence or act only after people’s lives have been disrupted.”
The 2027 presidential contender demanded immediate, coordinated tactical intervention by security forces to locate the missing corps members and reunite them safely with their relatives.
”I call for the immediate and safe rescue of all the abducted corps members and the arrest of those responsible,” Obi demanded. “Nigeria must become a country where young people can travel, work, and serve their nation without fear.”
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), established in 1973 under Decree No. 24 following the Nigerian Civil War, was designed to foster national unity, reconciliation, and integration by deploying fresh university and polytechnic graduates to serve outside their states of origin for one mandatory year.
However, over the past decade, the scheme has come under intense scrutiny due to rising security challenges across the country. Interstate highways—particularly those connecting the South-East, North-Central, and North-West geopolitical zones—have increasingly turned into high-risk routes targeted by armed bandits, violent herdsmen, and kidnap-for-ransom syndicates.
Mass abductions involving prospective and serving corps members have occurred repeatedly on major transit arteries, including the Abuja-Kaduna highway, the Lokoja-Kabba road in Kogi State, and transit corridors bordering Imo and Anambra states.
These repeated ambushes have prompted civil society groups, parents, and security experts to call for a fundamental overhaul of NYSC deployment protocols, with some advocating for corps members to be restricted to their geopolitical zones of origin to minimize highway travel risks.
Mr. Peter Obi’s prompt intervention highlights growing pressure on federal security agencies to secure vital road networks and restore confidence in national service schemes as the political environment builds up toward the 2027 general elections.
