CUPP DEMANDS IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF THE 20 REMAINING PROSPECTIVE NYSC MEMBERS ABDUCTED IN IMO

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) strongly condemns the abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members along the Owerri–Onitsha Road in Imo State and demands the immediate, safe and unconditional rescue of the 20 victims reportedly still in captivity.

On October 1, 2026, Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day, armed men attacked two commercial buses conveying prospective NYSC members and other passengers travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, towards orientation camps in the South-East and South-South. The attack  occurred around Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

30 persons were  travelling in the two buses. While 10 victims have been rescued,  20 prospective NYSC members are still reportedly being held by their abductors.

CUPP considers this a grave national security emergency and a damning failure of government to protect innocent Nigerians travelling on a major highway.

These young Nigerians were not criminals or combatants. They were graduates responding to a national obligation. Their only “offence” was travelling on a Nigerian road.

THIS IS A FAILURE OF STATE PROTECTION

CUPP rejects any attempt to dismiss this incident as an ordinary criminal occurrence. The ability of armed criminals to intercept two buses on a major highway, abduct passengers and disappear into the bush raises serious questions about Nigeria’s security architecture.

Where was the intelligence? Where was highway surveillance? Where were the security patrols? Where was the rapid-response mechanism? How were armed criminals able to operate with such confidence on a major federal highway?

This is not merely a kidnapping story. It is a security failure, governance failure, intelligence failure, institutional failure and failure of state protection.

A government must ultimately be judged by its capacity to protect the lives and property of the people it governs, not by speeches, promises and political campaigns.

Nigeria has suffered Chibok, Dapchi, Kankara, Kagara, Jangebe, Bethel Baptist and Abuja–Kaduna train abductions, among numerous other attacks. Yet the government continues to offer assurances while Nigerians are kidnapped on roads, in schools, in churches,  mosques, and in their communities.

How many more Nigerians must disappear before the Federal Government accepts that its security strategy is failing?

CUPP’S DEMANDS

CUPP demands the following immediate actions:

1. Rescue the 20 remaining prospective NYSC members alive and unharmed without delay.

2. The Inspector-General of Police and relevant security chiefs must take direct operational responsibility for the rescue.

3. The DSS, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Defence Intelligence Agency and other relevant agencies must deploy their full intelligence, surveillance and rescue capabilities.

4. Government must provide credible and regular updates to the victims’ families without compromising operational security.

5. The circumstances that enabled the attack must be investigated, including possible intelligence, surveillance and coordination failures.

6. Every perpetrator and accomplice must be identified, arrested and prosecuted.

7. Major highways across Nigeria must undergo a comprehensive security audit, with stronger patrols, surveillance and rapid-response mechanisms.

8. The government and NYSC must provide meaningful humanitarian and psychological support to the victims’ families.

9. The government must strengthen the legal and institutional framework for combating kidnapping and end impunity.

10. The Tinubu administration must present Nigerians with a clear, measurable and time-bound national security roadmap with identifiable targets and accountability mechanisms.

THE TINUBU ADMINISTRATION MUST ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY

CUPP does not allege that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu personally ordered or participated in this abduction. However, political and constitutional responsibility for protecting citizens cannot be outsourced to criminals.

The Federal Government controls the national security architecture, federal security agencies and national intelligence coordination. Therefore, when Nigerians are repeatedly kidnapped and attacked, the administration owes the nation answers.

The Tinubu administration cannot continue to govern by assurances while families negotiate with kidnappers for the lives of their children. Nigerians deserve security, not excuses; action, not propaganda; results, not promises.

CUPP therefore calls on the government to find them, rescue them, bring them home alive, arrest the perpetrators, prosecute them and secure Nigerian roads.

The 20 prospective NYSC members are not statistics. They are Nigerian citizens, someone’s children, siblings and future.

They must be rescued NOW.

CUPP will not be silent. Nigeria must not be silent. The government must not be silent.

Enough is enough. Nigerians deserve better.

We wish all Nigerians a safe and productive week ahead.

Signed:

Comr. Agu Diamond Bryan