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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
As hearing resumed on Thursday at the Imo State High Court over the abduction of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, an Investigating Officer of the Department of State Services (DSS), Ikem Emmanuel, has revealed that 11 suspects were involved in the operation.
Three suspects – Mohammed Ali, Usman Aliyu and Babangida Aliyu – have so far been arraigned in court over the incident while others are still at large.
Giving his testimony, Emmanuel told the court that from confessional statements, intelligence gathering and identification by victims, the DSS established the involvement of 11 persons in the abduction.
Narrating how the incident occurred, he said the corps members were travelling from Ibadan to their orientation camps in Akwa Ibom and Abia States. They left Ibadan on 30 September 2026 and around 10 pm, a female passenger alighted at Oba, Anambra State.
According to him, they continued the journey the next morning, 1 October, at about 4:30 am. Heading to Imo State through the Onitsha-Mgbidi-Owerri Expressway, they came under attack around 6:30 am by a gang of kidnappers wielding AK-47 rifles. Twenty corps members were abducted and taken into the forest.
Emmanuel said following the incident, security agencies including the military, DSS and police deployed technical assets and intelligence analysis aimed at securing the safe return of the corps members. After one week in captivity, the victims were released after payment of ransom.
He said intelligence was gathered from the time of ransom payment to where the victims were released, adding that investigation revealed that some suspects had fled the state and were hibernating between Rivers and Abia States. Consequently, between 11 and 14 October 2026, the three accused were arrested in those states.
He said during investigation, intelligence gathering, record checks, interviews and confessional statements taken under caution were conducted. Statements of the hostages, witnesses, drivers and the person who delivered the ransom were also taken.
Further data analysis, he said, was conducted on the mobile phones of the accused persons, and the hostages were able to identify the suspects.
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According to him, a motorcyclist identified as Timothy identified Usman Aliyu, the first defendant, and Babangida Aliyu, the second defendant, as those present and armed with AK-47 rifles at the point of ransom exchange.
One of the bus drivers, identified as Sunday Udok, also identified Usman Aliyu as the person who approached his bus wielding an AK-47 rifle. He said the driver escaped into the bush and was not among those abducted.
Emmanuel said some of the hostages identified as Esther Olade, Mary Makinde and Abdul Temi Sarah were able to identify the three suspects as those who abducted them, though they could not give a description of others still at large.
He said Mohammed Ali, popularly known within his gang as “Small Pepper”, was identified because of his complexion and facial appearance, although some of the kidnappers wore face masks.
The DSS officer said in their confessional statements, all three suspects admitted participating in the abduction.
The court adjourned hearing to 27 October 2026.
Meanwhile, two other suspects, Tange Ibrahim, aka Jiji, and Aminu Haliru, were also arraigned for another abduction on the same axis and same day. They were arrested on 9 October 2026.
The DSS investigating officer revealed that both were arrested in Rivers State over the abduction of Winner Ogidi, Timothy Okpara, Ogechi Harrietha Ogbonna and one other person whose name he declined to mention. He said the victims were kept in the forest at Umuwaka-Okpu, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State and at Ndegwu Forest before being released on 9 October.
The case was also adjourned to October 27.
