Kidnappers Torture 20 NYSC Members, Cut Ransom Demand From N50m to N5m Each

Kidnappers reportedly tortured 20 prospective NYSC members abducted in Imo State and reduced their ransom demand from N50m to N5m per victim.

The 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted by gunmen in Imo State have allegedly been subjected to physical assault by their captors, with the kidnappers reportedly reducing their ransom demand to N5 million per victim.

The graduates were abducted on Thursday while travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. They were reportedly attacked along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, while travelling in two buses.

A relative of one of the victims, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said the abductors initially demanded N50 million for each victim but had now reduced it to N5 million.

“They are still demanding N5 million. They have come down to N5 million each,” she said.

Akande also alleged that the abductors had started beating the victims, including the women.

“When I spoke to my sister, they started beating them since yesterday,” she said.

Asked if the female victims were also being assaulted, she replied: “They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them.”

She said one victim was also allowed to speak with his father, with the abductors reportedly monitoring the calls to assess the family’s ability to raise the ransom.

Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government said it was working with the Imo State Government and security agencies to secure the victims’ release.

Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the government was drawing on its experience from the recent Oriire abduction to assist efforts in Imo State.

“Oyo State Government had not and will not abandon its citizens. We will continue to work endlessly and desperately to secure the release of our children,” he said.