Follow Us on Google
Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State have reduced their ransom demand from ₦1 billion to ₦100 million, while relatives say the victims are being beaten by their captors.
The victims were abducted last Thursday while travelling from Ibadan to their respective NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. The gunmen attacked the vehicles along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State.
The kidnappers initially demanded ₦50 million for each victim and reportedly gave the families 24 hours to raise the ₦1 billion ransom.
But Alhaja Alimot Akande, whose 25-year-old sister, Kehinde Akande, is among those abducted, said the demand had now been reduced to ₦5 million per victim.
“They are still demanding ₦5 million. They have come down to ₦5 million each,” she said.
Asked if the demand was for each of the 20 victims, she replied: “Yes.”
Akande, however, said the reduction had not eased the families’ fears, as the victims were still being held and allegedly assaulted.
She said the situation had become “horrible, scary and overwhelming”, adding that the abductors began beating the victims after she spoke with her sister.
“We appeal to the government to please assist us in getting them rescued from that place. When I spoke to my sister, they started beating them yesterday (Sunday),” she said.
Asked whether the female victims were also being beaten, Akande said: “They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them.”
She also disclosed that one of the victims had been allowed to speak with his father, but alleged that the kidnappers were monitoring the calls because they believed the man could raise the ransom.
She said: “His father has been communicating with him. The kidnappers give him access to a telephone. Whenever his father calls, they show him that a call came in for him.”
“They know money will come out of his father’s hands, so they would just pick it and allow him to talk. And they have been beating him. They have been beating all of them.”
The families, she added, were still trying to raise the money while relying on assurances from the police.
“The police are telling us to still buy time. We are still looking for the money. Depending on it, they will see them rescued,” she said.
Meanwhile, the parents accused Eduak King Transport Company, which conveyed the victims from Ibadan, of withholding the next-of-kin details of passengers aboard the affected vehicles.
They said they visited the company’s premises in Samonda, Ibadan, seeking information that would help them contact other affected families, but alleged that the transport operator refused to provide the list.
One of the affected mothers, Mrs Iyabo Akande, urged the Inspector-General of Police and the government to investigate the company.
“Our government and the Inspector-General of Police should help us investigate the transport company, Eduak King, located at the Samonda area of the state and call them to order,” she said.
“We were at their office yesterday morning (Sunday morning) asking for the next of kin list so we could contact other parents, but they refused to present it or assist us. The company’s driver, Jeremiah, took our children. They must be held accountable.”
Another parent, Olawale Olaleye, said the families were shocked to find the company loading another vehicle when they visited its premises.
“We went to Samonda, to Eduak King. Surprisingly, they were already loading another vehicle. People are complaining; the company should be held liable,” he said.
The Oyo State Government, meanwhile, said it was working with the Imo State Government and security agencies in both states to secure the victims’ release.
Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, said the government was drawing on its experience from the recent Oriire abduction crisis.
“We are in close contact at government-to-government level and actively working with the security apparatus in Oyo and Imo states,” he said.
“We are volunteering our template and experiences garnered during the Oriire kidnapping, and the report of the Judicial Inquiry just submitted last week by the Justice Mojeed Owoade Panel is coming in handy in our bilateral discussions on the matter.”
Oyelade said the government would not disclose every detail of its strategy because of the sensitivity of the operation.
However, he called on the Federal Government to explain the measures being taken to secure the victims.
“The pushback should be on the federal government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who are in charge of national security, on what they have done in 72 hours,” he said.
He assured the families that Oyo State would continue working for the victims’ release.
“Oyo State government has not and will not abandon its citizens. We will continue to work endlessly and desperately to secure the release of our children,” Oyelade said.
The Imo State Police Command also confirmed that the prospective corps members remained in captivity, while security agencies continued search-and-rescue operations.
The command’s spokesperson, Henry Okoye, said tactical teams and operational assets had been deployed to rescue the victims and arrest the suspected kidnappers.
“Following a swift response by the police and other security agencies, both buses have been recovered and 10 victims were rescued at the scene,” he said.
He added that the exact number of persons abducted was still being verified, while operatives were conducting intelligence-led tracking of the suspects.
The development comes amid intensified efforts by security agencies to locate the remaining victims and secure their release.
