The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has refuted reports alleging a deadly road accident involving prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members heading to Gombe state.
A viral post on Wednesday claimed that 16 people died in the crash and two others were critically injured. However, according to Punch, Janet Kassa, FRSC PRO, stated that checks conducted across all units and commands in the state showed no record of such an incident. She urged the public to disregard the circulating claim, saying, “I have checked with my colleagues, there is no indication this happened in Gombe, not to mention that it even occurred.”
Similarly, Jennifer Laha, NYSC PRO in Gombe, reportedly dismissed the photos circulating online as questionable.
TheCable also reached out to Adeyemi Federal University of Education (AFUED), Ondo — the institution the prospective corps members were said to have departed from — but the school’s management denied any knowledge of the alleged crash.
The NYSC programme often requires graduates to travel long distances across the country for their mandatory one-year service, journeys that have historically been linked to multiple fatal accidents. Recent security concerns have further heightened anxieties among graduates.
The scheme continues to issue repeated advisories against night travel and other risky journeys, underscoring the sensitivity of the issue. In January 2025, a crash involving a 14-seater bus transporting corps members to the Ebonyi orientation camp resulted in four fatalities after the vehicle collided with a stationary truck.
As of the time of filing this report, Caroline Embu, the NYSC national spokesperson, has not responded to enquiries on the ongoing concerns.