By Huldah Shado
Activist Omoyele Sowore has announced plans for protests in Abuja and Lagos to demand the release of corps member Rita Raye’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), discharge certificate, which the agency has withheld after extending her service year by two months.
Sowore and other activists allege the extension is retaliation for Rita’s public criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking during an X Space titled #TalkWithSowore: Unpacking The Recent Events, he said a meeting in Abuja on Sunday resolved to begin demonstrations this week if the NYSC fails to reverse its decision.
“We’re just coming from a meeting in Abuja where people are already telling us to storm the NYSC secretariat tomorrow.
“We will also mobilise for the Lagos protest… If nothing changes, either Monday, Tuesday, or within the week, we will act,” he said.
Sowore praised Rita’s courage, claiming her activism partly influenced the recent increase in corps members’ allowance to ₦77,000.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), has also called on the NYSC to immediately release her certificate, describing the action as “illegal retaliation” for her criticism of government policy.
In a Sunday statement, Falana said no court order justified the seizure, comparing it to the 1988 confiscation of the late Bamidele Aturu’s certificate during military rule.
Rita, who went viral in March for a video highlighting the economic crisis and alleging threats from NYSC officials, has faced multiple disciplinary summons before being informed of the service extension.
The planned protests, Sowore said, will culminate in a mass mobilisation at the NYSC Passing-Out Parade if Rita is not cleared to conclude her service.
