The eight Akwa Ibom State graduates abducted on their way to the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp in Sokoto State are yet to regain their freedom, almost 4 months since abduction.

The prospective corps members from Akwa Ibom State were travelling in an AKTC bus to Sokoto State for the mandatory national youth service programme for Nigerian graduates.

Since their abduction, parents and relatives of the victims have been expressing concerns that the NYSC authorities and security agencies were not doing enough to secure the release of their children.

In September, the parents took to the street to protest, saying they had spent over N13m in an effort to have their children back.

The kidnappers had demanded that the parents of each of the abductees should pay a ransom of N10m, an amount the parents said they could not raise.

Despite the assurances from security agents that the victims would be released, none of them has been freed as of December 4, 2023.

Some Nigerians have called for the scrapping of the NYSC scheme, while some others opined that individuals be allowed to serve in their geopolitical zones or states.