The pan Yoruba socio political organisation, Afenifere, has urged the Federal Government to direct the National Youth Service Corps to post corps members to their respective states of residence, citing a pattern of abductions targeting graduates on their way to orientation camps across the country.

The call was contained in a statement released by the organisation's National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, in Ibadan on Tuesday, in which Afenifere cited specific cases of corps members who were attacked and abducted while travelling to NYSC orientation camps.

"Among the victims cited were Sodiq Ogunlana, a LASU graduate who was shot and abducted on his way to Orientation Camp in Ede, Osun State; Lateefah, a graduate of Kwara Polytechnic who was abducted on her way to the NYSC camp in Taraba State; and Gift David Samiya, who was abducted on the Akwanga Jos road while going to the camp," Ajayi disclosed.

Afenifere noted that it first raised the same concern in 2021 following attacks on corps members by bandits, and that recent developments had made it necessary to repeat the demand.

"Afenifere first made this call as far back as 2021 when some youth corps members were attacked by bandits. Recent happenings impel us to reiterate our earlier call in this respect. No Nigerian or anybody else deserves to be kidnapped or killed extra judicially," Ajayi stated.

The organisation maintained that corps members deserve special consideration given the circumstances surrounding their mobilisation and deployment across the country.

"Youth corpers deserve special treatment because of their peculiar nature. For this reason, if the scheme could not be suspended, a modification should be made so that participants are mobilized to serve in their respective states or states of residence rather than being posted to states far from the areas they are familiar with," Ajayi added.

Afenifere expressed deep concern over the broader security situation across Nigeria, noting that incidents of kidnapping and terror attacks had extended into Yorubaland, affecting states including Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, and Kwara.