Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State have reduced their ransom demand to ₦5 million per victim, according to a parent, as families appeal for urgent intervention and dispute an earlier account of a military rescue.
The new demand amounts to ₦100 million for the 20 victims, down from the initial ₦50 million each, which totalled ₦1 billion.
The PUNCH reported that the graduates were travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when gunmen intercepted their two buses around Umunoha on the Owerri–Onitsha Road on Thursday, October 1.
Parent alleges victims are being beaten
Alhaja Alimot Akande, who spoke through one of her daughters in Ibadan on Sunday, said the reduced demand had brought little reassurance because the victims remained in captivity.
She alleged that the abductors were beating the graduates and appealed to governments at all levels to secure their release.
Akande said she could not confirm how much the families had raised, explaining that she was not privy to arrangements involving other parents.
The families had visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, at his residence in Bodija on Saturday to seek assistance.
Families dispute account of 10 rescues
The parents challenged reports that security operatives rescued 10 passengers after the attack. They said those who escaped had fled into the bush.
The Bureau Journal’s earlier report of 10 prospective corps members being rescued in Imo was based on a military operational report shared with the News Agency of Nigeria.
The families’ account conflicts with that report on how the passengers regained their freedom. It does not establish that every person travelling in the buses remained in captivity.
Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, said he had contacted his Imo counterpart and that both commands were communicating about the rescue effort. The Olubadan also assured the families that security agencies were working to bring the victims home.
Police and Army say rescue efforts continue
Imo police spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye, told The PUNCH on Sunday that an operation was underway to locate and rescue the abducted travellers.
Major Hashimu Abdullahi, spokesperson for the 34 Artillery Brigade, said the Army was working with other security agencies and exploring available options to secure a positive outcome.
Imo Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, had earlier said intelligence about suspected improvised explosive devices at the captors’ location was complicating the operation.
Abductions involving corps members have also occurred elsewhere. The Bureau Journal previously reported a ransom demand following the kidnapping of NYSC members in Kogi and the subsequent rescue of 21 victims, including 15 corps members.
ADC seeks one-year suspension of NYSC
The African Democratic Congress called for the NYSC programme to be suspended for at least one year to allow a review of its organisation and participant safety.
ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi told The PUNCH that the scheme remained relevant to national unity but needed to respond to current security conditions.
African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore separately advocated immediate suspension and eventual scrapping of the programme in its current form, proposing that participants be allowed to serve within their states of origin.
Other opposition parties, Peter Obi, and the Seyi Makinde campaign organisation called for the victims’ safe release. APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, also appealed for their unconditional release and stronger protection along inter-state routes.
The Bureau Journal has previously covered police warnings concerning threats to schools, NYSC camps and other vulnerable locations, alongside attacks on commercial buses along a Kogi highway.
LAUTECH expresses concern for graduates
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology said at least three of its graduates were reportedly among those abducted.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Razaq Kalilu expressed solidarity with the affected families and called for coordinated security efforts, saying the university’s immediate concern was the victims’ safety and return home.
Police and Army representatives said rescue efforts were continuing as families awaited the release of the abducted graduates.
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