As Kidnappings of Corps Members Mount, Families and Activists Say the Government's Duty of Care Has Collapsed — Pointing to the Harrowing Case of Musa Usman Abba as Proof the System Is Broken

Nigerian parents and human rights advocates have issued a stark ultimatum to the Federal Government: either guarantee the safety of corps members deployed under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, or shut it down entirely.

The demand, voiced publicly on Saturday, comes amid a worsening pattern of kidnappings, violent attacks, and killings targeting young graduates during their mandatory one-year national service — a crisis that critics say the government and NYSC management have repeatedly failed to address.

“Scrap It If You Can't Protect Them”

Haruna Danjuma, National President of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of Nigeria, delivered the most forceful call to action, speaking on behalf of millions of Nigerian families whose children are deployed annually across the country — often to states far from their homes.

"It is painful to lose a child," Danjuma told reporters. “It is not easy to train a child from birth until they complete university and then at NYSC, the child gets kidnapped.”

Danjuma argued that because participation in NYSC is compulsory for eligible graduates, the Federal Government assumes direct and non-negotiable responsibility for every corps member's security and welfare from the moment they are mobilised.

"We have said it repeatedly — the government has the responsibility of ensuring the security and welfare of all Nigerians. Since they engaged these young graduates in the scheme, they must ensure the safety of our children," he said.

To strengthen accountability, Danjuma proposed a formal framework requiring state governors and relevant security agencies to sign binding undertakings guaranteeing corps members' protection before any deployment proceeds in their states. Without such safeguards, he argued, the moral and practical foundation of the scheme crumbles.

"If you cannot protect the lives of these children, then scrap the NYSC — because the value of the scheme is already defeated if the children are not safe," he declared.

Amnesty International: Leaving Families to Pay Ransom Is “Irresponsible”

Isa Sanusi, Executive Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, backed the parents' position, describing their concerns as not only valid but urgent. He reserved particular criticism for NYSC management, accusing the scheme of abandoning families at their most vulnerable — during ransom negotiations and active abduction crises.

"The concerns of the parents are absolutely right," Sanusi said. “There is no way someone would train his child up to that level, send him to NYSC, only to end up paying ransom.”

Sanusi argued that the duty of care established when NYSC mobilises a young person does not pause when that person comes under threat — it intensifies.

"They mobilised these young people, so their security and wellbeing should remain the responsibility of NYSC until the end of the programme. For NYSC to leave parents to struggle with ransom payments while waiting to see if their children are killed is quite irresponsible," he said.

He also called for an immediate review of posting practices, urging authorities to halt deployments to areas with documented histories of kidnapping and insecurity until adequate protections are in place.

The renewed public pressure has been galvanised in large part by the harrowing and still-unresolved ordeal of Musa Usman Abba, a graduate of Plant Science and Biotechnology from Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, who was abducted on January 9, 2026.

Abba was travelling from Gusau to Sokoto to resume his NYSC service when gunmen seized him. His captors demanded a ransom of N10 million and released disturbing videos showing him being physically beaten — footage that circulated widely online and horrified Nigerians across the country.

His family, already burdened by financial strain, reportedly gathered and paid the demanded ransom. But rather than secure his release, communication from the abductors went silent entirely — a development that led his community to fear the worst. On March 6, 2026, family and friends held a funeral prayer in his absence, mourning a man they believed had been killed.

Then, in a development that brought anguish rather than relief, a new video surfaced around mid-March showing Abba alive — but visibly weak and in poor condition. In the footage, his captors made fresh demands, suggesting the ordeal is far from over and that the ransom payment had resolved nothing.

Abba's case has become a symbol of everything critics say is wrong with how the state treats its corps members: a young man compelled by law to serve his country, abandoned by the institutions meant to protect him, with his family left to negotiate alone for his survival.

The NYSC, established in 1973 in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War to foster national unity and development, has long been considered a rite of passage for Nigerian graduates. But the security environment in which it now operates has changed dramatically, with armed banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and insurgency making large swathes of the country dangerous — yet deployments continue.

For parents and activists, the question is no longer abstract. It is a matter of whether the Federal Government can honestly look Nigerian families in the eye and tell them their children will come home safely. Until it can, they say, the scheme's continuation is not a point of national pride — it is a source of national grief.