Uyo infoMedia can confirm that tragedy struck in the early hours of Thursday as an estimated 20 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, mostly graduates of the University of Ibadan and the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, were abducted by gunmen along the Anambra-Imo border while travelling from Ibadan to their orientation camps in Akwa Ibom and Abia States.

According to reports gathered, the young graduates had boarded a commercial bus in Ibadan, Oyo State, heading to the South-South and South-East for the mandatory one-year national service, when their vehicle was intercepted by heavily armed men suspected to be kidnappers operating along the lonely stretch of road between Anambra and Imo States.

It was learnt that eleven passengers, including the drivers of the vehicles, reportedly managed to escape from the scene during the confusion that followed the attack, while 19 prospective corps members were forcibly taken away by the gunmen into the bush, leaving behind their belongings and creating panic among other road users.

One of the most heartbreaking accounts came from a mother, Mrs. Alimot Akande, who said her daughter was among those abducted and that she received a brief, chilling message from her before her phone went silent. The message simply read, “Kidnappers,” leaving the family in total shock and agony.

The mother said she has since been unable to reach her daughter, as her phone has been switched off, and that the family has been thrown into confusion, moving from one security agency to another in search of help, while also waiting anxiously for any information regarding the whereabouts and safety of the abducted graduates.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday morning, has once again raised serious concerns over the safety of young Nigerians who are travelling across the country to serve their fatherland under the NYSC scheme, a programme that was established to promote national unity and integration but has increasingly become a source of worry for parents and guardians.

For many families, the journey to orientation camp has become a nightmare, as reports of kidnapping, armed robbery and road accidents along major highways have become frequent, with corps members and prospective corps members often falling victim to criminal elements who take advantage of poor security along inter-state routes.

The Anambra-Imo border axis, where the latest abduction took place, has in recent months been identified as one of the hotspots for criminal activities, with several cases of kidnapping and violent attacks reported along the road, despite repeated assurances from security agencies that measures are being put in place to secure the area.

Nigerians have attributed the rising cases of abduction to the porous nature of the roads, lack of adequate patrols, absence of surveillance infrastructure and the desperation of criminal gangs who target commercial buses conveying young people perceived to have families that can pay ransom.

The abduction of the 19 prospective corps members has also put renewed focus on the responsibility of the Federal Government, the management of the National Youth Service Corps and the various security agencies to work together to strengthen security along major travel routes and to ensure the safe recovery of the victims.

Many Nigerians have taken to social media to express outrage over the incident, questioning why prospective corps members are still made to travel long distances by road to orientation camps, often through unsafe routes, without adequate security escort or provision for safer transportation alternatives.

Some have called on the NYSC management to reconsider its deployment and transportation policy, suggesting that prospective corps members should be allowed to report to orientation camps within their geopolitical zones or that the scheme should provide chartered buses with security accompaniment for long-distance journeys.

Others have urged the Federal Government to immediately deploy more security personnel to the Anambra-Imo border and other vulnerable highways across the country, while also investing in technology-driven surveillance and intelligence gathering to prevent future occurrences and to track down criminal gangs operating in the area.

As at the time of filing this report, neither the NYSC management nor the Anambra and Imo State Police Commands had issued an official statement confirming the abduction or providing details of efforts being made to rescue the victims, a silence that has further heightened anxiety among families and members of the public.

However, sources within the security agencies hinted that a search and rescue operation has been launched, with combined teams of police, army and local vigilantes combing the bushes and forests around the border area in a bid to locate the kidnappers and secure the release of the abducted prospective corps members.

The incident has also reignited the debate about the relevance and safety of the NYSC scheme in its current form, with some stakeholders calling for a comprehensive reform of the programme to make it more responsive to present-day security realities and to prioritise the safety and welfare of corps members above every other consideration.

For the families of the abducted graduates of the University of Ibadan and LAUTECH, these are indeed trying times, as they wait with bated breath for good news about their children who set out from Ibadan with dreams of serving their country but have now found themselves in the hands of gunmen.

Parents and guardians have appealed to the Federal Government, the NYSC Director-General and all relevant security agencies to do everything within their power to ensure that the abducted prospective corps members are rescued unhurt and reunited with their families as soon as possible.

As Nigerians await updates on the rescue efforts, the abduction serves as a painful reminder of the urgent need for the government to address the worsening security situation in the country and to ensure that no young Nigerian is put in harm’s way while answering the call to serve his or her fatherland.

Meanwhile, civil society organisations and student bodies have called for calm but have insisted that the safety of corps members must be treated as a national priority, urging the authorities to not only secure the release of the 19 abducted prospective corps members but also to put in place lasting measures that will prevent a recurrence of such tragic incidents in the future.