Oyo corps members kidnapped while travelling to their National Youth Service Corps, NYSC orientation camps have reportedly become the target of a N1bn ransom demand, with their abductors giving their parents 24 hours to pay.
The parents of 20 prospective corps members said the victims were kidnapped while travelling from Oyo State to their orientation camps in Imo State.
The affected families disclosed the ransom demand on Saturday when they visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, at his private residence in Bodija, Ibadan. They were accompanied by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, and the Aseyin of Iseyinland, Oba Sefiu Adeyeri.
Oyo Corps Members Kidnapped on Journey to NYSC Camps
The 20 graduates were reportedly travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps on Thursday when gunmen attacked the two buses conveying them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State.
The abductors reportedly demanded N50m for each victim, bringing the total ransom demand to N1bn.
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, had confirmed the ransom demand on Friday.
Speaking on behalf of the affected families, Alhaja Akande and Oyebola Akande said the kidnappers had been contacting them through the mobile phones of the abducted prospective corps members.
The parents said the abductors threatened to harm their children if the ransom demand was not met.
“They have been calling us since yesterday (Friday) with a demand for N50m ransom each. They are threatening that anything untoward will happen to our children if we fail to heed to their request.”
The parents appealed to the Olubadan and the police to intervene and secure the immediate release of their children.
They said the families could not raise the N1bn demanded by the kidnappers and appealed for urgent assistance.
Responding to the appeal, Ladoja assured the parents that efforts were being made to rescue the victims unharmed.
He said the authorities would share relevant information with the families as efforts to secure the victims continued.
The Olubadan also expressed confidence in the police’s efforts to rescue the kidnapped prospective corps members.
The Oyo corps members kidnapped in the incident remain the subject of an ongoing search-and-rescue operation involving security agencies.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, said on Saturday that security operatives had located the suspected camp where the remaining victims were being held using drones.
However, Bosso said the rescue operation had been delayed after intelligence indicated that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been planted around the suspected camp.
The development has prompted security agencies to exercise caution as they work to secure the safe release of the victims.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the search-and-rescue operation.
The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, also said he had contacted his counterpart in Imo State over the incident.
According to Abimbola, the Imo State police commissioner assured him that efforts were ongoing to rescue the victims unharmed.
The police commissioner did not disclose whether any ransom had been paid and provided no further details about the ongoing rescue operation.
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