The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has dismissed reports claiming that 16 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members died in a road accident while travelling to Gombe State.
The viral posts, which also alleged that two others were critically injured, have been circulating widely on social media.
Janet Kassa, FRSC spokesperson in Gombe, told local media on Wednesday that there is no record of such an incident in the state.
“Checks across our units and commands show no indication this happened in Gombe, or anywhere else,” she said, urging the public to disregard the misleading posts.
NYSC officials in Gombe also condemned the images shared online, describing them as suspicious. Adeyemi Federal University of Education in Ondo, from where the corps members were reportedly travelling, confirmed they had no knowledge of any accident involving their students.
The NYSC program requires new graduates to travel across Nigeria for mandatory national service, often covering long distances. Fatal accidents involving corps members have occurred in the past, prompting repeated warnings against night travel and unsafe routes. In January 2025, four people died when a 14-seater bus carrying corps members to an orientation camp in Ebonyi State collided with a parked truck.
The FRSC and NYSC have reiterated calls for accurate information and urged the public to verify news before sharing it online.
