Parents say the 20 abducted prospective corps members are being beaten, as politicians demand rescue and police cite IED fears for the delay
Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have reduced their ransom demand from N50m to N5m per victim, cutting the total from N1bn to N100m, The PUNCH reports.
The victims’ parents say the captives have allegedly been beaten since Friday, heightening fears for their safety and prompting fresh calls for government intervention.
Alhaja Alimot Akande, who spoke through one of her daughters in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Sunday, said the lower figure had not eased the families’ anxiety.
“They are still demanding N5m. They have come down to N5m each,” she said.
The graduates were travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states on Thursday when gunmen attacked their two buses around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road. The parents dispute claims that 10 passengers were rescued, saying those who escaped fled into the bush.
Parents allege beatings of NYSC captives
Akande said the abductors have assaulted the victims since Friday, including the female corps members.
“They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” she said.
She alleged that the kidnappers let one captive take calls from his father, apparently to gauge whether the family can raise the money. The families, she said, have been told by the police to keep buying time while they look for the ransom.
The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, assured the parents on Saturday that their children would be rescued unharmed. Oyo State Commissioner of Police Olugbenga Abimbola said he has been in touch with his Imo counterpart since the incident.
Police cite IED fears over NYSC rescue
Imo State Commissioner of Police Audu Bosso said on Saturday that the command had located the camp where the NYSC members are held, using drones, but held back because intelligence suggested it was mined with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
He said operatives would move in with bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers to rescue the victims unhurt.
On Sunday, the command’s spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye, said operatives were “gradually closing in.” Major Hashimu Abdullahi, spokesperson of the 34 Artillery Brigade in Owerri, said all agencies were working together on the case.
Politicians react to NYSC kidnap
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) called for a one-year suspension of the NYSC to allow reorganisation. Its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the scheme remains relevant but the insecurity demands a pause.
African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore went further, calling for the scheme to be suspended and ultimately scrapped.
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), urged the Federal Government to rescue the victims and arrest those responsible. The NDC, the Labour Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Young Progressives Party also condemned the abduction and demanded their safe return.
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, said at least three of its graduates were among those abducted. Vice-Chancellor Prof. Razaq Kalilu called for coordinated efforts to secure their release.
Oyo State All Progressives Congress governorship candidate Sharafadeen Alli appealed for the captives’ unconditional release and stronger security on major inter-state routes.
