A rescued prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member has recounted the horrifying conditions she and other abductees endured while being held captive in a forest in Imo State, revealing that their captors fed them dry garri and muddy water to survive
.
The survivor, whose identity was concealed during an interview with the BBC, described the experience as traumatic, saying the captives had little choice but to consume whatever food and water their abductors provided.
“What we are eating there is just garri. Like Igbo garri, dry garri with mud water. Very dirty water. I can’t even give my enemy that water. We don’t have a choice, we have to take it for survival,” she said.
Her account was reported by Vanguard News on October 13, 2026, following the abduction of 20 prospective corps members and another passenger travelling to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
According to the survivor, the journey began when their bus departed at about 9 a.m. and made several stops along the way. She said the driver eventually stopped at a location considered dangerous for onward travel, advising the passengers to rest before continuing their journey.
She reportedly contacted her family to explain that they would spend the night at a public place. However, she said she later woke up in the hands of kidnappers and could not explain how she and the other passengers had been taken into the forest.
“When I woke up, that was when the incident happened. I don’t know how we got to the forest where we were kept for some time,” she recounted.
The captives were subsequently moved deeper into the forest, where their captors allegedly subjected them to harsh conditions, including inadequate food, dirty drinking water and physical assaults.
The survivor said the kidnappers monitored telephone conversations between the abductees and their families. According to her, captives were beaten whenever their relatives said something that displeased the abductors during calls.
“We are given a phone to call our family, and if any family say anything they don’t want to hear or any rubbish that would make them angry, we will be beaten,” she said.
She added that the captors used their hands and objects, including guns and wood, to assault victims. She said the male captives were particularly subjected to physical violence.
The ordeal also took a psychological toll on the victims. The survivor explained that she initially struggled to process what was happening, describing a feeling of shock and helplessness.
“I can’t explain how I felt. I can’t even cry, I was just looking, I was lost. I don’t know what to do,” she said, adding that the experience felt unreal.
The 20 prospective corps members and another passenger were abducted on October 1, 2026, when gunmen attacked two buses travelling along the Owerri–Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Imo State. The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective NYSC orientation camps.
They regained their freedom on October 7 following a coordinated operation involving security agencies. After their release, the victims were taken to a Department of State Services (DSS) medical facility in Owerri for medical attention.
The survivor credited the security agencies, particularly DSS personnel, with helping secure their release.
“The government, the DSS staff, we were rescued by them,” she said.
Her account has renewed concerns about kidnapping along major travel routes and the dangers faced by young Nigerians travelling to participate in the national service programme. It has also brought renewed attention to the physical and psychological suffering victims may experience while held by abductors.
For the rescued prospective corps members and their families, freedom brought an end to the immediate danger, but the survivor’s account illustrates the distressing conditions they say they endured while fighting to stay alive.
