NYSC Kidnappers cut ransom demand from N1 billion to N100 million

Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in captivity in Imo State have cut their ransom demand from N1 billion to N100 million, as parents of the victims raised the alarm that the abducted graduates were being beaten by their captors.

The abductors reduced the demand from N50 million to N5 million per victim, according to one of the affected parents, Alhaja Alimot Akande, who spoke in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Sunday.The prospective corps members were abducted on Thursday when gunmen attacked two buses conveying them from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State.

Akande said the reduction in the ransom had not eased the families’ anxiety because the victims remained in captivity and were allegedly being subjected to physical assault.

“The kidnappers had reduced their demand from the earlier N50million per victim to N5million each,” she said.She appealed to the government at all levels to intervene and secure the victims’ release.

“Sir, we appeal to the government at all levels to please assist us in getting them rescued out of that place. They have started beating them since yesterday,” she said.Akande said the abductors were not sparing any of the victims, including the female corps members.

“They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” she added.

She also disclosed that one of the abducted corps members had been allowed to communicate with his father, alleging that the kidnappers were using the calls to assess the family’s ability to raise the ransom.

According to her, the families were still trying to raise the money demanded by the abductors while relying on assurances from the police that the victims would be rescued.“The police are telling us to still be buying time. We are still looking for the money. Depending, they will see them rescued,” she said.

The parents also disputed reports that 10 passengers were rescued by security operatives after the attack, saying those who escaped did so by fleeing into the bush.

Some of the abducted prospective corps members identified by their parents are Makinde Mary Oluwapelumi, Akande Kehinde Morufat, Abdul Temiloluwa Sarah, Adeniran Mariam Olulola, Adefioye Ayomide Isaac, Adewale Paul Iyanuoluwa and Oyede Esther Funmilayo.

The names were released during a visit by the parents to the private residence of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in Bodija, Ibadan North Local Government Area, on Saturday.

Ladoja assured the parents that efforts were being made to secure the victims’ safe return.

“I want to assure that your children would be rescued unharmed. We will relate whatever information we gather to you. The police are working round the clock to secure their rescue. Don’t worry yourself, the police are up to the task, and nothing would happen to your children,” he said.

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, said he had contacted his Imo State counterpart over the incident.

“I had already contacted Imo State CP. We have been talking since the day of the incident, and he assured me that the victims would be rescued unhurt,” he said.

Meanwhile, security agencies in Imo State said they were intensifying efforts to rescue the victims.The Imo State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye, said security operatives were conducting an operation and closing in on the abductors.

“We’re conducting the operation and gradually closing in. We will keep you posted,” he said.

The Public Relations Officer of the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, Major Hashimu Abdullahi, said the matter was receiving the required attention and that security agencies were working together to secure the victims’ release.The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, had earlier disclosed that security operatives had identified the location where the victims were being held.

He said police used drones to locate the suspected camp after operatives trailed the abductors into the bush, but that security forces delayed entering the area because intelligence indicated that the camp had been mined with improvised explosive devices.

“Any moment, we’ll still move into the bush. Yesterday, we were in the bush; we trailed them up to a particular location. But at that point in time, we couldn’t move in to where the coordinates showed us because we ran drones yesterday. And the drone actually showed us exactly their location.

“But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the camp is mined with IEDs,” he said.Bosso said security agencies were preparing to deploy heavy equipment, including bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers, as part of efforts to reach the victims safely.

The abduction has also triggered calls for a review of the NYSC scheme amid concerns over the safety of young graduates travelling to distant parts of the country for national service.The African Democratic Congress called for a one-year suspension of the scheme to enable the Federal Government to reorganise it and strengthen security arrangements.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the NYSC remained important to national unity but argued that the worsening security situation required an urgent review.

The management of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, also expressed concern over the abduction, particularly because at least three of its graduates were reportedly among the victims.The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Razaq Kalilu, called for coordinated efforts by security agencies to secure the safe release of the abducted graduates and other victims.

Political parties and groups have also condemned the abduction and called on the federal government to intensify efforts to rescue the victims and strengthen preventive security measures along major inter-state routes.