During the entire trip to the Bauchi State Nigerian Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp in January, Promise (not real name), a graduate of the University of Ilorin, had his heart in his mouth the whole way.

His pulse quickened at every checkpoint. Each time the bus slowed, he hoped bandits or terrorists were not lurking and waiting to unleash gunfire on the bus.

The North is widely seen as Nigeria’s most insecure region, plagued by banditry, terrorism, communal clashes, and farmer-herder conflicts that have eroded the peace the area was once known for.

About 60,000 people were killed in 18 northern states due to insecurity between 2012 and 2022. Amnesty International revealed that over 10,000 have been killed across central and northern Nigeria in the two years since President Bola Tinubu took office. The corps member feared he would be a part of the statistics and paid for “direct posting” while registering for NYSC.

Had it worked, Promise would not have endured a 26-hour journey to Bauchi, clasping his palms in prayer, hoping to reach the orientation camp safely and to survive the service year.

“We took off from Iddo in Lagos on the morning of January 21 and got to Bauchi the following day. I feared serving in the north because of insecurity. I felt so bad when the direct posting failed because I never wanted to serve there because of insecurity,” Promise told The Guardian.

Inside the business of direct posting

After coming out of a civil war that threatened the country’s unity, the federal military government under General Yakubu Gowon established the NYSC.

Graduates were deployed to regions different from where they studied or grew up, sending them to unfamiliar terrains to serve the country by providing temporary staffing for schools, hospitals, government offices, and supporting rural development until the end of their service year. The aim was to promote cross-cultural understanding and unity among the country’s over 200 ethnic groups.

Over the years, graduates found ways to bypass the system by paying for deployment to their preferred states. They typically worked through middlemen who acted as go-betweens for NYSC officials and prospective corps members to influence postings, a practice known as direct posting.

The cost of direct posting varies depending on the PCM’s preferred state. In conversations with agents, The Guardian learnt that direct posting to Lagos and Abuja usually costs more than other states in the country.

Paying for direct posting is a gamble. Many attempts fail, leaving corps members stranded after spending large sums to influence their posting. Yet, many still take the risk, hoping the odds will favour them.

Corps members pay for direct posting for various reasons. Some want to be closer to home or serve in a state they already know, while others—like Promise—do so to avoid regions plagued by insecurity.

Some who are not posted to their desired state make another attempt before the end of the mandatory three-week orientation, paying to be redeployed to another state.

Another corps member serving in Bauchi State told The Guardian that she had paid for direct posting because she feared long journeys and serving in states battling insecurity, but it failed and she had no choice but to succumb to fate.

Recounting her journey to the Bauchi State NYSC Orientation Camp, the corps member said she was overcome with fear.

“I paid N90,000 for direct posting, but it failed, and I was posted to Bauchi. I was bothered about my safety on the way to the orientation camp.”

When service turns deadly

What was designed to foster unity has become a journey of fear. From abductions on dangerous highways and numerous attacks, corps members have been caught in the crossfire of Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.

Over the past few years, kidnappers and armed groups have targeted buses conveying corps members to orientation camps. In Zamfara, Rivers, and parts of the Southeast, buses carrying graduates have been waylaid, passengers dragged into the bush and families forced to negotiate ransom payments.

NYSC Orientation Camp in Afikpo, Ebonyi State

A report published by FIJ in 2024 revealed that at least 83 corps members were abducted between 2013 and 2023.

On January 21, some graduates of the University of Ilorin were abducted in Delta State while travelling to the Rivers State NYSC Orientation Camp. The kidnappers demanded N5 million each as ransom.

Corps members are not the only ones who fear for their lives; their parents share the same worries. Many have appealed to the Federal Government to stop posting corps members to high-risk or insecure states.

In June, the National President of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, decried the deployment of corps members to states battling insecurity, warning that the lives of young graduates should not be risked in the name of national service.

“We all know the importance of the NYSC, but it isn’t worth losing their lives over. We cannot afford to lose any of our children simply because they went for national service. The government should ensure that corps member deployment is handled with security consciousness. Where necessary, they should even consider using special escorts.

“You will see situations where children travel for an entire day, or even two to three days, just to reach their place of deployment. The government should look into this. They should consider the distance involved and the stress it imposes on our children,” said Danjuma.

The mother of a soon-to-be university graduate, Olaoluwa Awode, told The Guardian that she won’t allow her son to serve in the north and would rather pay for direct posting to enable him to serve in the southwest. When asked for her reasons, Awode said many federal highways are death traps and unsafe.

“The insecurity in the country is alarming, and the roads are dangerous. Many low-income parents cannot afford flights for their children, forcing them to travel long distances on roads. Lives are lost every day on these roads, which is very devastating,” said Awode.

Fleeing Anambra and IPOB sit-at-home orders

Northern states are not the only places graduates try to avoid. Some corps members also steer clear of certain southeastern states because of the secessionist agitations of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

IPOB is a secessionist movement in southeastern Nigeria that calls for the re-establishment of Biafra for the predominantly Igbo-speaking southeastern region of Nigeria. The group has cited political marginalization, economic neglect, and historic grievances from the civil war as justifications for their secessionist struggles.

In the beginning, the movement organized peaceful protests, rallies, and online campaigns to drive home their demands, but turned to violence and clashes between IPOB supporters and Nigerian security forces have led to violent incidents.

In 2017, the Federal Government proscribed IPOB as a terrorist organization. The Southeast has experienced attacks on police stations, government offices, and security checkpoints, with officials attributing many of these to IPOB.

The group’s leader was first arrested in 2015 on charges of treason and later released. He was rearrested abroad (reportedly in Kenya) and extradited to Nigeria in 2021, where he is facing multiple charges, including terrorism and treasonable felony.

The group began ordering residents of southeastern states to obey a sit-at-home order on Mondays to protest its leader’s detention. The order is enforced with threats and violence. In several cities (Enugu, Onitsha, Owerri, Aba), shops, markets, and vehicles have been set on fire when owners tried to operate during a sit-at-home.

According to SBM Intelligence, more than 700 people have been killed in IPOB-related violence between 2021 and 2025.

Ozioma, a graduate of Mass Communication who is currently serving in Lagos State, was in her first year when IPOB began the sit-at-home orders. She described every Monday spent there as “Call of Duty”, a mobile game that immerses players in fast-paced, military-themed combat.

The mass communication graduate hoped for an escape. When the time to register for NYSC came, Ozioma did not hesitate to pay for direct posting. She described her experience there as traumatising, adding that she never wants to be anywhere around the Southeast for this reason.

“I lived in fear while schooling in the southeast. I was scared of being killed or kidnapped. My parents were also scared for my life. Videos of armed men shooting people would circulate on Mondays. Some were students like me. It was traumatizing.

“The insecurity was so intense that i left the region as soon as I graduated without packing my belongings. There is no one who travels to the east without having the fear of being killed or kidnapped. Nowhere is safe, whether in broad daylight or at night. I would not want to stay in that toxic environment,” Ozioma told The Guardian.

NYSC has repeatedly warned prospective corps members not to pay money to anyone to change or choose their posting, or for relocation, and advised corps members to accept their postings in “good faith”.

In a statement signed by the Director, Information and Public Relations of NYSC, Caroline Embu, released in September 2024, the former Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General YD Ahmed, was quoted to have told corps members to settle down in the respective areas they were deployed to.

“Accept your postings in good faith and resist the temptation to seek reposting. Begin to make a meaningful impact as you have been trained to do.

“Focus on making positive contributions in your host communities and serve as exemplary ambassadors of your families, the NYSC and the nation at large”, he said.

Left with no option, Promise, the corps member whose direct posting failed, now hopes the Federal Government will revise the NYSC scheme to stop deploying corps members to regions facing security challenges.

“It would be great if they could make the scheme more flexible to allow corps members choose where to serve aside their state of origin.” (The Guardian)