A 55-year-old mother, Janet Oladosu, has appealed to the Federal Government and security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue her son, Greatness, and 19 other prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted while travelling to their orientation camps.

Oladosu made the appeal while speaking with journalists, urging the Federal Government, Oyo and Imo State governments and security agencies to make the safe rescue of the victims a priority.

“All I want is for my son to come back alive. These are young Nigerians who were simply travelling to serve their country,” she said.

The 20 prospective corps members, who had collected their NYSC call-up letters, reportedly left the Samonda area of Ibadan on September 30, 2026, for orientation camps in the South-East and South-South.

They were abducted near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State while travelling towards Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State.

Oladosu said her son had regularly kept her informed of their movement until their communication suddenly changed.

According to her, Greatness earlier told her that a prolonged traffic jam in Edo State had forced the travellers to stop overnight in Anambra State because it had become too late to continue their journey.

She said he contacted her again the following morning to inform her that they had resumed their journey towards Imo State.

“But about 45 minutes later, I received a message from him through another phone. It read: ‘Mummy, we have been kidnapped,’” she said.

Oladosu said another message from her son further revealed that he had secretly used a phone to contact her.

“He wrote: ‘Mummy, I don’t know what will happen to us. I hid this phone in my trouser to send a text to you,’” she recalled.

The development has also renewed calls for a review of the NYSC deployment policy, with the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, urging the Federal Government to allow graduates to serve in their states of origin, states of residence or within their geopolitical zones.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, Afenifere urged the government to expedite the amendment of the NYSC Act to reduce the security risks associated with long-distance deployment of prospective corps members.

Ajayi said the organisation had consistently advocated a review of the deployment policy since 2021, particularly following incidents involving the kidnapping or attack of corps members.

Afenifere also called on the Federal Government, security agencies and the Oyo and Imo State governments to intensify efforts to rescue the abducted graduates.

The group recalled that President Bola Tinubu announced in July that the Federal Ministries of Youth Development and Justice had been directed to commence the process of amending the NYSC Act and its subsidiary regulations to provide legal backing for reforms approved by the Federal Executive Council.

The proposed reforms include risk-based deployment, particularly in states facing security challenges.

Afenifere urged the government to accelerate the legislative process and ensure that the proposed reforms translate into concrete measures for the protection of corps members.

Pending the amendment, the organisation called on the NYSC to allow graduates to serve in their states of origin, states of residence or neighbouring states within their geopolitical zones.

It also commended President Tinubu for approving additional Army formations in Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo and Osun states, saying the move would bring troops closer to vulnerable communities and improve responses to security emergencies.

However, Afenifere maintained that military expansion alone would not end kidnapping and banditry, and called for effective enforcement of the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.