Abductors who seized 19 graduates travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, for their National Youth Service Corps orientation camps have demanded N950m for their release.

The victims were travelling in two buses when gunmen attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday.

The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, who confirmed the incident on Friday, said the gunmen demanded N50m for each of the victims.

He noted that occupants of the vehicles, owned by his company, were corps members heading to Abia and Akwa Ibom orientation camps.

It was gathered on Friday that the abductors contacted some of the victims’ families and demanded N50m for each person.

The demand heightened anxiety among families as security operatives continued efforts to locate the missing passengers.

Recounting how the incident happened, Akpan said the two buses left Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday but were delayed by traffic around Benin, Edo State.

According to him, the vehicles eventually reached Onitsha, Anambra State, late in the day.

He explained that they could not continue the journey because of the condition of the road, forcing the drivers and passengers to spend the night in Oba.

Akpan said the buses resumed their journey around 5 am on Thursday.

He said they had barely entered Imo State when gunmen emerged from the bush.

“They blocked the two vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush,” he added.

Akpan noted that the drivers managed to escape and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting the police and military to begin searching the area.

He, however, said the search operation was initially complicated when some villagers allegedly prevented security personnel from removing the abandoned buses from the scene.

According to him, the intervention delayed the movement of security personnel as they attempted to pursue the abductors.

The two buses were subsequently left at the scene, with passengers’ belongings scattered inside the vehicles.

The Imo State Police Command had on Thursday night said 10 victims were rescued.

In a statement on Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, explained that security agencies were on the trail of the abductors and had launched a coordinated search for the remaining victims.

However, Okoye could not confirm if the rescued victims were among the abducted corps members.

Parents in panic

A parent of one of the victims, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told Saturday PUNCH that the abductors contacted her through her son’s phone and demanded N50m for his release.

“The kidnappers called with my son’s phone this morning (Friday) and demanded N50m for his release. The N50m is for only my son,” she said.

Another mother, who identified herself as Mrs Oladosu, whose daughter, Greatness, was travelling to Uyo, said the abductors briefly contacted the family through her daughter’s phone.

She said the family was able to see Greatness and other victims during a video call.

“They used my daughter’s number to call us. We saw her and other corps members sitting on the ground in the bush, crying. Where will petty traders get N50m? They are just going to serve Nigeria; why this punishment?” Oladosu lamented.

In a viral video obtained by Saturday PUNCH on Friday, Mrs Alimotu Akanke, the mother of another victim, Akande Farouq, said she had been tracking her son’s journey when the distress message arrived.

Farouq, who was posted to Abia State, according to his mother, managed to send a one-word message, “Kidnappers!”, to his family WhatsApp group before his telephone line went dead.

A manifest from the two affected vehicles listed 30 passengers, 15 in each bus, while two other vehicles operated by the same company and heading to Abia State escaped the attack.

Among those on the manifest were Akande Kehinde, Olaleye Mary, Oladosu Greatness, Obafunsho Rhoda, Abdulrof Anifat, Esther Oyede, Hassan Usman, Ayomide Isa, Mary Makinde, Azeez Adejoke and Abdulrazaq Anifat.

Friends launch social media campaigns for victims

Some purported friends of the abducted prospective NYSC members have taken to social media to seek support for their rescue.

One of the victims was identified as Precious Oladipupo, a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University.

Writing on X, one Adebayo (@Adebayoakim1), solicited public support for the safe release of Wahab Ayandare, whom he claimed was also abducted in the same incident.

Another friend, Akinlabi Abayomi (@Mubiiiiin), appealed for help for another alleged victim, Oyindamola Adeoye.

Abayomi said the abductors had demanded N50m for her release. PUNCH