Oyo, Imo, FG to Launch Joint Operation or … as Kidnappers of NYSC Corps members Demand #950 Million Ransom, Throw Families Into Panic
Abductors who kidnapped 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states have demanded N950m for their release.
The victims were travelling in two buses when gunmen attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday.
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, who confirmed the incident on Friday, said the abductors demanded N50m for each of the victims.
Akpan said the buses, owned by his company, were conveying corps members heading to the Abia and Akwa Ibom orientation camps when the attack occurred.
According to him, the buses left Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday but were delayed by traffic around Benin, Edo State, before eventually arriving in Onitsha, Anambra State, late in the day.
He explained that the drivers and passengers could not continue the journey because of the condition of the road, forcing them to spend the night in Oba before resuming their trip around 5am on Thursday.
Akpan said the buses had barely entered Imo State when gunmen emerged from the bush, blocked both vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush.
He added that the drivers escaped and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting the police and military to launch a search for the abducted passengers.
The search was reportedly complicated when some villagers allegedly prevented security personnel from removing the abandoned buses from the scene, delaying the movement of the operatives.
The two buses were later left at the scene, with the passengers’ belongings scattered inside.
The Imo State Police Command had on Thursday night announced that 10 victims had been rescued, although the Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, could not confirm whether the rescued persons were among the abducted corps members.
Meanwhile, the ransom demand has heightened anxiety among the victims’ families, with some relatives confirming that the abductors had contacted them.
A parent, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the abductors contacted her through her son’s phone and demanded N50m for his release.
Another mother, Mrs Oladosu, whose daughter, Greatness, was travelling to Uyo, said 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.
Similarly, Mrs Alimotu Akanke, mother of another victim, Akande Farouq, said her son, who was posted to Abia State, managed to send a one-word message, “Kidnappers!”, to the family’s WhatsApp group before his telephone line went dead.
A manifest from the two affected buses listed 30 passengers, with 15 passengers in each vehicle, while two other buses operated by the same company and travelling to Abia State reportedly escaped the attack.
Some friends of the abducted prospective corps members have also launched social media campaigns seeking support for their safe release. Among those identified was Precious Oladipupo, a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University.
The Oyo State Government has condemned the abduction, describing the incident as distressing and reprehensible.
The Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, stated the government’s position in a statement issued in Ibadan on Friday, saying the government was in close communication with relevant security agencies, the Imo State Government and the NYSC leadership.
Oyelade said Governor Seyi Makinde had directed that all necessary resources be deployed to secure the safe return of the victims, adding that the safety and well-being of every Oyo State indigene, both within and outside the state, remained a priority.
“We are fully committed to securing the safe release of our children and will stop at nothing to ensure that they are reunited with their families without harm,” the statement read.
The government urged the affected families to remain calm and called on security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue the victims and apprehend the perpetrators.
The incident came 36 days after 15 prospective corps members were abducted along the Aloma-Egane Expressway in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State while travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja.
The victims were subsequently rescued from Egume Forest in Ofu Local Government Area by security forces.
The recurrence of attacks involving prospective corps members travelling between states has raised concerns over the safety of interstate movements and the security of participants in the NYSC scheme.
A security analyst, Chidi Omeje, said criminal networks could be exploiting the predictable movement of young graduates during NYSC mobilisation and deployment periods.
“This is becoming a pattern, I think, because everyone has information about the mobilisation of corps members; criminals can use that to plan coordinated attacks.
“The Federal Government and the NYSC need to strengthen security arrangements for corps members travelling through identified kidnapping corridors,” he said.
Another security expert, Olalekan Jackson-Ojo, said the NYSC’s national integration objective was being undermined by concerns over the safety of corps members across the country.
He suggested that corps members be allowed to serve within their states or regions rather than being deployed to high-risk locations.
An educationist, Dele Olapeju, said the spate of kidnappings involving corps members was contributing to declining public confidence in the scheme, as apprehensive parents increasingly sought redeployment for their children.
He urged the government to prioritise the safety of corps members and avoid deploying them to high-risk areas.
The Director of Public Relations, NYSC, Caroline Embu, had yet to respond to enquiries about the latest incident as of press time.
Recall that the Oyo State government and Imo state government had confirmed the incident and currently working round the clock to secure their release while the Federal Government is also ontop of the situation likewise.
Source; The Punch