NYSC

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned five suspects over the abduction of 20 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and a civilian in Imo State.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to respond to a suit seeking the release of records relating to his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) service.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has debunked the news making rounds that a Corp member whose death occurred in Enugu died from the effects of substandard and falsified medicines.

The group said the death of the young graduate, described as a brilliant and promising leader, had thrown the state into mourning, insisting that the circumstances surrounding his demise must be established and anyone found culpable held accountable.

The Federal Government set up the NYSC in 1973 to foster cultural diversity, patriotism driven by shared values and orientation, as well as solidarity that breeds mutual trust, especially among a nubile and virile population still burning with generational zeal.

The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, made the revelation in an interview with News Central Television on Wednesday, recounting how the abductors initially demanded ₦50 million for each of the victims before eventually reducing the ransom for her son to ₦6 million.

The victims were travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when the abduction occurred last Thursday.

The rescue in Imo came after suspected kidnappers intercepted two commercial buses conveying prospective corps members and other passengers along the Onitsha-Owerri Road in the early hours of Thursday.

Gunmen have abducted 20 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) travelling along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State, in a fresh highway attack that has renewed concerns over the security of corps members undertaking the mandatory national service programme.

Security agencies have placed schools, NYSC orientation camps, churches, mosques and other vulnerable locations across the country on heightened security alert and tightened surveillance following intelligence indicating possible coordinated terrorist attacks.