The 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State have been subjected to severe beatings by their captors, including the female victims, as the deadline for payment of the ransom draws closer, The Telegraph has learnt.
The development came as it emerged yesterday that the kidnappers had reduced their ransom demand from ₦50 million to ₦5 million for each victim.
The prospective corps members were abducted last Thursday while travelling from Ibadan to their respective NYSC orientation camps. Their vehicles were attacked by gunmen along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, while they were travelling to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The abduction immediately triggered concern among the victims’ families, particularly after the parents disclosed that the kidnappers had initially demanded ₦50 million for each of the 20 victims — a total of ₦1 billion — and issued a 24-hour ultimatum to produce the money or risk harm coming to their children.
The parents had earlier sought the intervention of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, during a visit to 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.
Meanwhile, one of the affected relatives, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said the abductors had subjected the victims to physical assault since the previous day, describing the situation as “horrible, scary and overwhelming” for the families.
Akande, whose 25-year-old sister, Kehinde Akande, is among those abducted, said the kidnappers had reduced the ransom from ₦50 million per victim to ₦5 million.
She said the reduction had not eased the families’ anxiety because the victims remained in captivity and were allegedly being beaten by their captors.
“They are still demanding ₦5 million. They have come down to ₦5 million each,” she said.
Asked whether the ₦5 million was being demanded for each of the 20 abducted prospective corps members, she replied, “Yes.”
Akande said she could not confirm how much had so far been raised by the families towards the ransom because she was not privy to the individual arrangements between the kidnappers and the other parents.
“I cannot say because I do not know how much they have told those people that they have,” she said.
Describing the situation, she said: “It has been horrible, scary and overwhelming.”
According to Akande, the situation became even more disturbing after she spoke with her sister and learnt that the abductors had begun beating the victims.
“We appeal to the government to please assist us in getting them rescued from that place. When I spoke to my sister, they started beating them yesterday (Sunday),” she said.
Asked whether the female corps members were also being assaulted, Akande said the kidnappers were not sparing anyone.
“They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” she said.
Akande also disclosed that one of the abducted corps members had been allowed to communicate with his father, but said the kidnappers appeared to be using the calls to assess the family’s ability to raise the ransom.
According to her, the abductors alert the victim whenever his father calls and allow him to speak because they believe his father is capable of providing the ransom.
She said: “His father has been communicating with him. The kidnappers give him access to a telephone. Whenever his father calls, they show him that a call came in for him. He would just say, ‘Oh, that’s my father.’
“They know money will come out of his father’s hands, so they would just pick it and allow him to talk. And they have been beating him. They have been beating all of them.”
The relative said the families had been relying on assurances from the police while efforts continued to raise the ransom demanded by the abductors.
“The police are telling us to still buy time. We are still looking for the money. Depending on it, they will see them rescued,” she said.
Akande confirmed that she was directly affected by the incident, identifying her abducted sister as Kehinde Akande, 25.
Transport firm withholding passengers’ next-of-kin details — Parents
The victims’ parents have also accused the transport company that conveyed their children from Ibadan of withholding vital passenger information when they visited its office seeking assistance.
The parents said they visited Eduak King Transport Company in Samonda, Ibadan, in a desperate attempt to obtain information that could help them contact other affected families. They alleged that the company refused to provide the next-of-kin details of passengers aboard the vehicles involved in the attack.
One of the affected mothers, Mrs Iyabo Akande, whose daughter, Kehinde Akande, was among the abducted graduates, called on the Inspector-General of Police and the government to investigate the transport operator and ensure that anyone found culpable was held accountable.
She said: “Our government and the Inspector-General of Police should help us investigate the transport company, Eduak King, located at the Samonda area of the state and call them to order.
“We were at their office yesterday morning (Sunday morning) asking for the next-of-kin list so we could contact other parents, but they refused to present it or assist us. The company’s driver, Jeremiah, took our children. They must be held accountable.”
Another parent, Mr Olawale Olaleye, whose daughter was also among the victims, expressed concern over what he described as the company’s continued operations despite the abduction and the distress of the affected families.
He said the parents were surprised to find the company loading another vehicle when they visited its premises to seek information and assistance.
Olaleye said: “We went to Samonda, to Eduak King. Surprisingly, they were already loading another vehicle. People are complaining; the company should be held liable.”
When Vanguard visited the transport company’s premises yesterday, other transport operators were seen carrying out their normal activities, while the premises of the affected company were locked and no official was available to respond to the allegations.
FG should tell us what it’s doing — Oyo govt
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government said it was maintaining close contact with its Imo State counterpart and security agencies as efforts intensified to secure the release of the abducted graduates.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Dotun Oyelade, said the state government was not standing aside simply because the abduction occurred outside Oyo State, stressing that it was actively involved in efforts to bring the victims home.
Oyelade said the government was drawing on lessons from the abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area as part of its engagement with the Imo State authorities.
He said: “We are in close contact at government-to-government level and actively working with the security apparatus in Oyo and Imo states.
“We are volunteering our template and experiences garnered during the Oriire kidnapping, and the report of the Judicial Inquiry just submitted last week by the Justice Mojeed Owoade Panel is coming in handy in our bilateral discussions on the matter.”
The commissioner explained that the state government would not disclose 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, said the Federal Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces should bear primary responsibility for explaining the country’s broader security response to the abduction.
“The pushback should be on the federal government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who are in charge of national security, on what they have done in 72 hours,” he said.
Oyelade linked the state government’s position to Governor Seyi Makinde’s recent intervention over the abduction of students in Borno State, noting that the Borno incident occurred on the same day as the Oriire abduction.
“It was in recognition of this that Governor Seyi Makinde appealed to the federal government last week to expedite action on the abducted Borno students, who were abducted on the same day, May 15, that the Oriire students and teachers were abducted,” he said.
Reaffirming the state government’s commitment to the victims, Oyelade said the fact that the graduates were abducted in Imo did not absolve the Oyo State Government of its responsibility towards its citizens.
“Oyo State government has not and will not abandon its citizens. We will continue to work endlessly and desperately to secure the release of our children,” he said.
Kidnapped NYSC members still in captivity — Imo police
Meanwhile, the Imo State Police Command said yesterday that the prospective corps members remained in captivity.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, PPRO Henry Okoye, said the Commissioner of Police, CP Audu Bosso, in collaboration with sister security agencies, had deployed tactical teams and operational assets to rescue the abducted corps members and other passengers and arrest the suspected kidnappers.
Okoye said: “Following a swift response by the police and other security agencies, both buses have been recovered and 10 victims were rescued at the scene.
“The rescued victims are in safe hands and are being attended to. The exact number of persons abducted is being verified and will be made public once confirmed.
“Operatives are conducting coordinated search and rescue operations, backed by intelligence-led tracking of the suspects.
“The affected section of the expressway has been reopened and traffic is flowing. Security personnel remain deployed to protect commuters.”
