Kidnappers have demanded N950m for the release of 19 prospective corps members who were abducted while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their various National Youth Service Corps orientation camps.
The victims were travelling in two buses when gunmen attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday, October 1 (read here).
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, told Punch that the kidnappers demanded N50m for each of the victims.
The kidnappers also contacted the victims’ families and demanded N50m for each person.
Narrating how the incident happened, Akpan told the publication that the two buses left Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday, September 30, but were delayed by traffic around Benin, Edo State.
He said the vehicles eventually reached Onitsha, Anambra State, late in the day. They could not continue the journey because of the condition of the road, so the drivers and passengers spent the night in Oba.
Akpan said the buses resumed their journey around 5 am on Thursday. They had barely entered Imo State when gunmen emerged from the bush.
“They blocked the two vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush,” he added.
Akpan said the drivers managed to escape and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting the police and military to begin searching the area.
The Imo State Police Command said on Thursday night, October. 1, that 10 victims have been rescued and security operatives have launched a coordinated search for the remaining victims (read here).
However, Okoye could not confirm if the rescued victims were among the abducted corps members.
A parent of one of the victims, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told Punch that the abductors contacted her through her son’s phone and demanded N50m for his release.
“The kidnappers called with my son’s phone this morning (Friday) and demanded N50m for his release. The N50m is for only my son,” she said.
Another mother, who identified herself as Mrs Oladosu, whose daughter, Greatness, was travelling to Uyo, told the publication that the abductors briefly contacted the family through her daughter’s phone.
She said the family was able to see Greatness and other victims during a video call.
“They used my daughter’s number to call us. We saw her and other corps members sitting on the ground in the bush, crying. Where will petty traders get N50m? They are just going to serve Nigeria; why this punishment?” Oladosu lamented.
