INSECURITY: MURIC calls for NYSC suspension, discharge of 20 freed corps members
By KEMI KASUMU
MURIC further urged the government to issue the affected corps members their NYSC discharge certificates and pay them allowances equivalent to a full 2026/2027 service year as compensation for their ordeal.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the Federal Government to suspend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme until the country’s worsening insecurity is brought under control.
The Islamic human rights organisation also demanded the immediate discharge of 20 corps members recently released after spending one week in the custody of kidnappers in Imo State.
MURIC further urged the government to issue the affected corps members their NYSC discharge certificates and pay them allowances equivalent to a full 2026/2027 service year as compensation for their ordeal.
The group’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, made the demands in a press statement issued on Friday, October 9, 2026.
Akintola expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah for the safe release of the 20 corps members and congratulated their parents, while noting that their traumatic experience had raised serious concerns about the safety of young Nigerians deployed for national service.
“While we do not want to dwell on the controversy surrounding the circumstances of their release or rescue, we thank Almighty Allah for the safety of the young corps members. We also congratulate their parents,” he said.
The MURIC director argued that insecurity remained the greatest challenge facing the NYSC scheme, stressing that young graduates should not be exposed to life-threatening situations in the course of fulfilling their national service obligations.
“We cannot but conclude that the scheme’s greatest challenge is insecurity. We are of the opinion that our young ones do not deserve this punishment. Rather, the Federal Government has the responsibility, in loco parentis, to ensure their protection,” Akintola stated.
He maintained that the government should suspend the scheme, at least temporarily, because of what he described as its present inability to guarantee the safety of corps members across the country.
“However, in view of the apparent inability to do this, at least presently, we demand the suspension of the NYSC scheme until the Federal Government is able to take full control of the security situation in the country,” he said.
Akintola also insisted that the 20 freed corps members should not be compelled to continue their service year after the ordeal they had suffered.
He said their immediate discharge should be accompanied by the issuance of their discharge certificates, alongside payment of the allowances they would have earned throughout the 2026/2027 service year.
The MURIC chief said the demands were necessary to address the trauma experienced by the affected corps members and to protect other young Nigerians from similar incidents.
MURIC reiterated its position that the safety of corps members must be treated as a priority, urging the Federal Government to take decisive action to address insecurity before continuing the scheme under the prevailing conditions.
The statement was signed by Professor Ishaq Akintola, Founder and Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern.
