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Families of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from Oyo State have been thrown into deep anxiety following reports that kidnappers are demanding a ₦50 million ransom for each abducted graduate taken along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State.
The victims were traveling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom States when armed men ambushed two commercial buses in the Umunoha area of Imo State on Thursday.
Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, whose company operated the vehicles, confirmed that the abductors have established contact with several families to demand ₦50 million per passenger.
According to Akpan, the two buses departed the Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday but faced significant traffic delays near Benin, Edo State, forcing the drivers to park overnight in Oba, Anambra State, before resuming their journey around 5:00 AM on Thursday.
He explained that shortly after crossing into Imo State, gunmen emerged from the surrounding bush, intercepted the vehicles, and force-marched 19 corps members into the forest.
“They blocked the two vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush,” Akpan said.
While the drivers managed to escape and alert security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, Akpan noted that initial response efforts faced friction after some local villagers briefly prevented security operatives from towing the abandoned buses from the scene.
Less than 24 hours after the incident, the Imo State Police Command stated that 10 victims had been rescued, though it remains unconfirmed whether those freed were part of the 19 corps members abducted from the two buses.
Distressed parents speaking to Channels Television expressed helplessness over the ransom demands and pleaded with Governor Seyi Makinde and President Bola Tinubu to intervene urgently.
One parent, Olawale Olalere, recounted the ordeal in tears, sharing details of his son’s abduction on his way to his deployment state.
”The vehicle took off from Samonda and slept in Onitsha, from where they took off the following morning, and just as they got to Owerri in Imo State, we heard they had been kidnapped,” Olalere said.
”We are here to appeal to the government to come to our rescue. This morning, when they confirmed that they have been kidnapped, they’re already demanding N50 million naira on each victim,” he added.
Another parent, Mrs. Oladosu, disclosed that the abductors permitted a brief video call using her daughter Greatness’s phone, revealing the victims crying while seated on the bare ground in the bush.
“Where will petty traders get N50 million? They are just going to serve Nigeria; why this punishment?” she asked.
Similarly, Alimotu Akanke shared that her son, Akande Farouq, managed to send a single word—“Kidnappers!”—to their family WhatsApp group before his line went completely silent.
Addressing protesting relatives at the Oyo State Secretariat in Ibadan, the Executive Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security, Sunday Odukoya, assured families that the state government is actively coordinating with relevant authorities to ensure the safe release of the corps members.
Meanwhile, Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Henry Okoye, confirmed that combined military and police tactical teams are currently pursuing the armed group within the forest belt to rescue all remaining hostages.
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