An unspecified number of travellers, including National Youth Service Corps members, have reportedly been abducted by armed men along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State on Thursday, October 1.

The incident reportedly occurred around 5:30am when at least two commercial buses were attacked, with passengers allegedly robbed and taken into the bush. The exact number of people affected remains unclear.

According to reports and videos circulating online, some of the passengers were corps members who had departed from Samonda, Ibadan, in buses operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors.

The corps members were reportedly travelling to their assigned orientation camps in states across the South-East and South-South, including Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Imo and Abia.

An eyewitness, in a video shared online, said the attackers intercepted buses travelling from Lagos towards Anambra State and took passengers into the bush after dispossessing them of their belongings.

“Good morning, my fellow Nigerians. I am reporting from the Owerri-Onitsha Road. This happened this morning,” the eyewitness said.

He added that security personnel had arrived at the scene, while soldiers reportedly entered the bush in an attempt to locate and rescue the victims.

“The police came this morning, and the army has already entered the bush to see if they can rescue the victims,” he said.

Footage from the scene showed two buses abandoned by the roadside, with one bearing the inscription “Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nig. Ltd” and the number Uko/133.

The reported attack has heightened concerns among families whose relatives were travelling to NYSC orientation camps in different parts of the South-East and South-South.

In a separate video shared by Agidigbo FM Ibadan, a distressed woman appealed for assistance, saying her daughter was among the corps members whose whereabouts had become unknown.

According to the woman, her daughter left the Samonda park in Ibadan on Wednesday alongside other corps members travelling to the eastern part of the country.

She said the family received a message from her daughter in their WhatsApp group shortly after 6am on Thursday. The message reportedly contained the word “kidnapper”, after which her daughter’s phone became unreachable.

Describing the family’s distress, the woman said: “Since past 6am, I have not been able to hear from my child, and we couldn’t get her exact location anymore. Please, federal government, help us. I only have the two of them.”

She identified the missing corps member as Kehinde and said her twin sister, Taiwo, had already arrived in Enugu for her orientation camp.

Other relatives reportedly visited the park where their loved ones had boarded buses in Ibadan as they sought information about the missing travellers.

However, the identities and number of people allegedly abducted, as well as their current whereabouts, remained unclear at the time of reporting.

The Imo State Police Command had yet to issue an official statement confirming the incident. Its spokesperson, Henry Okoye, had also not responded to requests for comment at the time of the reports.

In commemoration of Nigeria’s 66th independence anniversary, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has approved the pardon, release, and commutation of sentences of 13 inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Centres, Enugu State.

This is in the exercise of his power of Prerogative of Mercy under Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and in consultation with the Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, Enugu State.

According to a statement released by the Mbah’s media aide, Uche Anichukwu, on Independence Day, the Governor’s approval was conveyed to the Comptroller, Nigerian Correctional Service, Enugu State Command by the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Osinachi Nnajieze.

The beneficiary inmates are Kenneth Ozioko, Moses Saliyat, Promise Ndudim Olung, Chijioke Ugwu, Samuel Ani, and Eugene Odo.

Others are Celsus Emeachi, Caleb Jatto, Calistus Eze, Gabriel Onu, Timothy Ani, Ernest Okeke, and Ejike Nwodo.

While some of the inmates were pardoned and released, some had their death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Mbah’s decision was predicated on reports of ill health and or proven reform in character, and following recommendation by the Correctional Services to the Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

Membership of the Council equally comprises representatives of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organisation (CAPIO), and the Catholic Institute for Development, Justice and Peace (CIDJAP), among other reputable bodies in the justice sector.

Section 212 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that: “The Governor may (a) Grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by any law of a state a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions; (b) grant to any person a respite, of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence; (c) substitute a less severe form of punishment for any person for such an offence; or (d) remit the whole or any part of punishment for any punishment imposed on that person for such any offence or of any penalty forfeiture otherwise due to the state on account of such an offence.”

Section 212 (2), however, provides that the powers of the governor under subsection (1) shall be exercised after consultation with an advisory council of the state on the prerogative of mercy as may be established by law of the state.