Kidnappers holding 20 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Imo State have reportedly reduced their ransom demand from ₦50 million to ₦5 million per victim, according to relatives of the abductees.
The graduates were abducted on Thursday while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. The attackers reportedly intercepted the two buses conveying them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Umunoha area of Imo State.
A relative of one of the victims, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said the kidnappers had initially demanded ₦50 million for each captive but later reduced the amount to ₦5 million per person. The revised demand brings the total ransom being sought for the 20 victims down from ₦1 billion to ₦100 million.
Akande also alleged that the captives were being physically assaulted by their abductors, including the female corps members. She appealed to the government and security agencies to intensify efforts to secure their immediate release.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government said it was working with the Imo State Government and security agencies to secure the safe release of the abducted prospective corps members. Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the state was drawing on its experience from a recent abduction in Oriire to support the rescue efforts.
The abduction has renewed concerns over the safety of young Nigerians travelling to NYSC orientation camps, with families of the victims calling for urgent intervention to secure their release.
