OWERRI, NIGERIA — Families of 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State are facing growing distress after kidnappers reportedly demanded a combined ₦950 million for their release.
The graduates were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when gunmen reportedly attacked the buses in the Umunoha area of Imo State.
The reported ransom demand amounts to ₦50 million for each of the 19 abducted passengers.
How The Abduction Happened
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, told PUNCH that the two buses departed from Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday.
According to Akpan, traffic congestion around Benin, Edo State, delayed the journey, and the buses eventually reached Onitsha, Anambra State, late in the day.
Because of the road conditions, the drivers reportedly decided not to continue the journey that night. The passengers and drivers spent the night in Oba before resuming their trip at about 5am on Thursday.
Akpan said the buses had barely entered Imo State when gunmen emerged from the surrounding bush.
The drivers reportedly managed to escape and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, after which police and military personnel began searching the area.
Security Search Delayed
Akpan said the search operation encountered difficulties after some villagers allegedly prevented security personnel from immediately removing the abandoned buses from the scene.
According to him, the delay affected the movement of the security personnel as they attempted to pursue the abductors.
The buses were subsequently left at the location, with passengers’ belongings reportedly scattered inside.
“They blocked the two vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush,” Akpan said.
The account suggests that the abductors separated the passengers from the buses before taking them into the surrounding bush.
Families Receive Ransom Calls
The reported ransom demands have intensified the anxiety among relatives of the victims.
A parent of one of the abducted graduates told PUNCH that the kidnappers contacted her using her son’s phone and demanded ₦50 million for his release.
“The kidnappers called with my son’s phone this morning (Friday) and demanded N50m for his release. The N50m is for only my son,” she said.
Another mother, identified as Mrs Oladosu, said her daughter, Greatness, was travelling to Uyo when the attack occurred.
According to Oladosu, the abductors briefly contacted the family using Greatness’ phone and allowed relatives to see the victims during a video call.
She said the family saw Greatness and other corps members sitting on the ground in the bush and crying.
The mother questioned how families with limited financial means could raise such a large ransom for young graduates travelling to begin their mandatory national service.
Families Appeal For Rescue
The reported demand has placed enormous pressure on the affected families, many of whom are now waiting for security agencies to locate and rescue their relatives.
The victims were reportedly travelling to orientation camps to begin the NYSC programme, which requires graduates mobilised for national service to report to designated camps before deployment.
The incident has also renewed concerns about the safety of young Nigerians travelling to different parts of the country for national service.
Security agencies have yet to publicly confirm all details surrounding the reported ransom demand in the account provided by Naija News, including whether negotiations with the abductors are ongoing.
The families, meanwhile, remain focused on the safe return of the 19 prospective corps members as efforts to locate them continue.
