Families of Abducted NYSC Members Face ₦950 Million Ransom

Families of 19 graduates traveling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camps are in panic after kidnappers demanded ₦950 million for their release. The victims were en route to camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom when gunmen attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State.

Isiah Akpan, Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, confirmed that the kidnappers demanded ₦50 million for each victim. The two buses carrying the graduates left Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan but were delayed by traffic and spent the night in Oba, Anambra State.

They resumed their journey early on Thursday and were ambushed shortly after entering Imo State. The drivers escaped and alerted security personnel, but villagers allegedly hindered the removal of the abandoned buses, complicating the search for the abductors.

Families of the victims reported receiving ransom demands through their children's phones, with one parent stating the kidnappers used her son's phone to demand ₦50 million for his release.