- Safiu Kehinde
A yet-to-be disclosed number of the University of Ilorin students have been abducted by kidnappers on their way to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where they were deployed by the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) for their mandatory one-year service.
This was disclosed in a post by an X user on Tuesday.
According to the X user, the prospective Corp Members were kidnapped on Monday with their abductors demanding for N5 million ransom.
“To serve Nigeria now is a crime. They have kidnapped some close Unilorites on their way to Port Harcourt. Can they just scrap the whole NYSC shit? We dey find 5m” the post read.
However, UNILORIN’s Director of Communications, Mr. Kunle Akogun, in a phone call with NPO Reports disclosed that the school management unaware of the incident.
“I’m not aware of the incident yet. Please send the report to me so I can make enquiry from the Students Affairs Dean” Akogun said.
Meanwhile, this has again sparked controversies over the safety of PCMs deployed to states outside their geographical zones.
In the wake of the insecurity in the country, calls for the scrap of the NYSC scheme has been persistent following constant reports of Corp Members abductions with some stating that the scheme has outlived its purpose.
Recall that the National Youth Service Corps was established in 1973 by Decree No. 24 of 22nd May, 1973.
The Scheme was conceived under the Yakubu Gowon regime after the civil war of 1967 as a means to concretize the Federal government agenda of reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction for national integration.