Abducted Oyo Corps Members: Kidnappers Demand N950m Ransom, Families In Panic
Families of 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from Oyo State have been thrown into panic after their abductors demanded a combined N950 million ransom for their release.
The graduates were abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State while travelling from Ibadan to their orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom States.
The victims were travelling in two buses belonging to Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited when gunmen attacked them in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday.
The Managing Director of the transport company, Mr. Isiah Akpan, confirmed the incident to newsmen on Friday.
According to Akpan, the kidnappers have contacted some families and are demanding N50 million for each of the abducted passengers.
Akpan explained that the two buses departed Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday but were delayed by heavy traffic around Benin, Edo State, and arrived in Onitsha, Anambra State, late that night.
Due to the condition of the road, the drivers and passengers decided to spend the night in Oba before continuing the journey.
He said the buses resumed the trip from Oba at about 5 a.m. on Thursday and had barely entered Imo State when gunmen emerged from the bush, blocked the buses and whisked 19 passengers away.
“They blocked the two vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush,” Akpan said.
He disclosed that the drivers escaped and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting police and military operatives to commence a search for the victims. The operation, he said, was initially delayed after some villagers allegedly prevented security personnel from moving the abandoned buses from the scene.
The Imo State Police Command on Thursday night said 10 victims had been rescued. The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Henry Okoye, said security agencies were pursuing the abductors and had launched a coordinated operation to rescue the remaining victims.
However, Okoye could not immediately confirm whether the 10 rescued persons were among the corps members abducted from the two buses.
The reported ransom demands have deepened the anxiety of relatives.
One parent, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told newsmen that the kidnappers contacted her through her son’s phone and demanded N50 million for his release.
“The kidnappers called with my son’s phone this morning (Friday) and demanded N50 million for his release. The N50 million is for only my son,” she lamented.
Another parent, Mrs. Oladosu, said her daughter, Greatness, who was travelling to Uyo, was among the victims. She said the kidnappers allowed the family to see her daughter and other victims during a video call, where they were seen sitting on the ground in the bush and crying.
“Where will petty traders get N50 million? They are just going to serve Nigeria; why this punishment?” she queried.
Similarly, Mrs. Alimotu Akanke said her son, Akande Farouq, who was posted to Abia State, managed to send a brief message to the family’s WhatsApp group before his phone went off. The message simply read: “Kidnappers!”
Meanwhile, friends and associates of the abducted graduates have taken to social media to call for help.
One of the victims was identified as Precious Oladipupo, a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University. Other victims identified online include Wahab Ayandare and Oyindamola Adeoye.
A manifest from the two buses listed 30 passengers, 15 in each bus, although the number of people actually abducted and the identities of those rescued remained unclear as of Friday.
Among those listed on the manifest were Akande Kehinde, Olaleye Mary, Oladosu Greatness, Obafunsho Rhoda, Abdulrof Anifat, Esther Oyede, Hassan Usman, Ayomide Isa, Mary Makinde, Azeez Adejoke and Abdulrazaq Anifat.
Two other buses operated by the same company and travelling towards Abia State reportedly escaped the attack.
