Crime

Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have reduced their ransom demand from N50 million to N5 million per victim, bringing the total demand down from N1 billion to N100 million. The development, however, has failed to ease the anxiety of the victims’ families, who say the abducted graduates are being beaten by their captors. One of the affected parents, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said on Sunday that the kidnappers had subjected the victims to physical assault since Friday. She appealed to the Federal Government and security agencies to intensify efforts to secure their immediate rescue. “The kidnappers had reduced their demand from the earlier N50m per victim to N5m each. They are still demanding N5m. They have come down to N5m each,” Akande said. The prospective corps members were travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states on Thursday when gunmen attacked two buses conveying them around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road. The parents also disputed reports that 10 passengers were rescued by security operatives, saying those who escaped did so by fleeing into the bush. Akande said the families remained under intense pressure as they struggled to raise the ransom, adding that one of the abducted victims had been allowed to communicate with his father. According to her, the kidnappers were allegedly monitoring the family’s ability to raise money through the phone conversations. “They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” she said. The parent added, “We appeal to the government at all levels to please assist us in getting them rescued out of that place. They have started beating them.” Meanwhile, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, has assured the families that efforts were ongoing to rescue their children unharmed. “I want to assure that your children would be rescued unharmed. The police are working round the clock to secure their rescue,” Ladoja said. The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, also said he had been in contact with the Imo State Police Command over the incident. “I had already contacted Imo State CP. We have been talking since the day of the incident, and he assured me that the victims would be rescued unhurt,” he said. The Imo State Police Command later confirmed that security agencies were closing in on the victims, while the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, said all relevant agencies were collaborating to secure their release. Police spokesperson DSP Henry Okoye said, “We’re conducting the operation and gradually closing in. We will keep you posted.” Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, had earlier disclosed that security operatives had identified the suspected camp where the victims were being held but were exercising caution over intelligence that the location had been mined with improvised explosive devices. He said drones were used to locate the camp after security operatives tracked the kidnappers into the bush, adding that bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers were being prepared for the rescue operation. The abduction has also triggered renewed calls for reforms to the NYSC scheme. The African Democratic Congress called for the temporary suspension of the scheme to allow the Federal Government to reorganise it and strengthen security measures for corps members. Other political parties and public figures, including the Labour Party, Social Democratic Party, Young Progressives Party, Peter Obi and Omoyele Sowore, also condemned the abduction and demanded the immediate and safe rescue of the victims. Sowore called for the suspension and eventual scrapping of the NYSC scheme, while Peter Obi urged the government to rescue the corps members and arrest those responsible. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, also expressed concern after confirming that at least three of its graduates were among those reportedly abducted. The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Razaq Kalilu, said the institution remained in solidarity with the affected families and was praying for the safe return of all the victims. As security agencies intensify efforts to reach the suspected kidnappers’ hideout, the families continue to appeal for urgent intervention to ensure that the 20 prospective corps members return home safely.