The 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in Imo State have allegedly been subjected to physical assault by their captors, with the kidnappers reportedly reducing their ransom demand from N50m to N5m per victim.
The development has heightened anxiety among the families as the deadline earlier issued by the abductors for payment of the ransom reportedly draws closer.
A relative of one of the victims, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said her 25-year-old sister, Kehinde Akande, was among those being held and that the abductors had started beating the victims.
Akande described the situation as frightening and appealed to the government to intensify efforts to rescue the affected graduates.
“They are still demanding N5 million. They have come down to N5 million each,” she said.
Asked whether the new demand applied to all 20 victims, she replied, “Yes.”
Akande said she could not confirm how much had been raised by the families, explaining that she was not involved in the discussions between the kidnappers and some of the other relatives.
She alleged that the abductors had begun assaulting the victims since Saturday.
“Sir, we appeal to the government to please assist us in getting them rescued out of that place. When I spoke to my sister, they started beating them since yesterday,” she said.
Asked if the female victims were also being assaulted, she said the kidnappers were not sparing anyone.
“They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” Akande stated.
She further disclosed that one of the abducted corps members had been allowed to speak with his father, although the kidnappers allegedly monitored the conversations to determine the family’s ability to raise the ransom.
According to her, the abductors would alert the victim whenever his father called and permit him to speak with him.
Akande said the affected families were relying on assurances from security authorities while efforts continued to raise the ransom.
“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.
Oyo engages Imo, security agencies
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government has said it is working with the Imo State Government and security agencies to secure the release of the abducted graduates.
The state Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the government had remained involved in the rescue efforts despite the incident occurring outside Oyo.
Oyelade said the state was drawing on its experience from the recent abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area while engaging the Imo authorities.
“We are in close contacts at government-to-government level and actively with the security apparatus in Oyo and Imo states,” he said.
He added that Oyo had offered its experience from the Oriire incident to support the ongoing efforts, including findings from the judicial inquiry into the previous abduction.
The commissioner explained that the government could not reveal every aspect of its strategy because of the sensitive nature of the operation.
“Governments all over the world are not in the habit of disclosing all they are planning in delicate situations like this,” Oyelade said.
He, however, called on the Federal Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to account for measures taken to address the incident and the wider insecurity in the country.
Oyelade also recalled Governor Seyi Makinde’s intervention in the recent abduction of students in Borno State, noting that the incident occurred around the same period as the Oriire abduction.
He assured the families that the Oyo Government would continue working for the safe return of the victims.
“Oyo State Government had not and will not abandon its citizens. We will continue to work endlessly and desperately to secure the release of our children,” he said.
How the graduates were abducted
The prospective corps members were reportedly travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when gunmen attacked the two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday.
The abduction initially triggered a N50m ransom demand for each victim, amounting to N1bn for the 20 graduates, with the families reportedly given 24 hours to raise the money.
The victims’ parents later sought the intervention of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, during a visit to his residence in Bodija, Ibadan.
The parents, accompanied by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, and the Aseyin of Iseyinland, Oba Sefiu Adeyeri, appealed to the monarch to assist in securing their children’s release.
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Ladoja assured the families that efforts were being made to rescue the victims safely, while the Oyo police commissioner said he had remained in contact with his Imo counterpart since the incident.
Abimbola said the Imo police command had assured him that efforts were ongoing to secure the victims’ safe release.
