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.
The reduction brings the total ransom being demanded for the release of the 20 abducted graduates from N1 billion to N100 million.
However, the development has done little to calm the anxiety of the victims’ families, who said the abducted graduates were being subjected to physical assault by their captors.
One of the parents, Alhaja Alimot Akande, who spoke through one of her daughters in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Sunday, said the kidnappers had allegedly been beating the victims since Friday.
Akande said the families remained deeply worried about the safety of their children despite the reduction in the ransom demand.
“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,” she said.
The prospective corps members were reportedly travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states on Thursday when gunmen attacked the two buses conveying them.
The attack occurred around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State.
The victims were among graduates travelling to their respective orientation camps ahead of the commencement of their national service.
Some of the names released by their parents include Makinde Mary Oluwapelumi, Akande Kehinde Morufat, Abdul Temiloluwa Sarah, Adeniran Mariam Olulola, Adefioye Ayomide Isaac, Adewale Paul Iyanuoluwa and Oyede Esther Funmilayo.
The parents released the names during a visit to the private residence of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in the Bodija area of Ibadan North Local Government Area on Saturday.
The families also disputed reports that 10 of the passengers had been rescued by security operatives following the attack.
According to them, those who escaped from the kidnappers did so by fleeing into the bush rather than being rescued by security personnel.
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, had earlier confirmed the initial ransom demand of N50 million per victim.
Akande said she could not determine how much money had been raised by the families towards the ransom, explaining that she was not involved in discussions between the kidnappers and other parents.
“I cannot say because I do not know how much they have told those people that they have,” she said.
She described the situation as “horrible, scary and overwhelming,” saying the families were becoming increasingly desperate for government intervention.
Her concerns intensified after she learnt that the abductors had allegedly begun physically assaulting the victims.
“Sir, 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 since yesterday,” she said.
Asked whether the female prospective corps members were also being subjected to physical assault, Akande said the kidnappers were allegedly not discriminating among the victims.
“They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” she said.
She also disclosed that at least one of the abducted graduates had been allowed to speak with his father by telephone.
According to her, however, the kidnappers were allegedly monitoring the communication and appeared to be using the calls to assess the family’s ability to raise the ransom.
Akande said the abductors would alert the victim whenever his father called and allow him to speak briefly.
She explained that the kidnappers appeared to believe the father had the financial capacity to provide the ransom, while allegedly continuing to subject the victim to physical abuse.
The parents have consequently renewed their appeal to the Federal Government, Imo State Government and security agencies to intensify efforts to locate and rescue the 20 prospective corps members.
The incident has heightened concerns over the safety of young Nigerians travelling to orientation camps for the mandatory national service and renewed calls for stronger security measures along major highways in the South-East.
For the families, the immediate priority remains securing the safe return of their children, who have remained in captivity since the attack.
