Twenty prospective members of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have reunited with their families in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, after spending seven days in captivity following their abduction in Imo State.
Gatekeepers News reports that the victims were handed over to their families by the Department of State Services (DSS) in Oyo State at about 8:30 pm on Thursday, October 8, according to reports. Their reunion followed their release by security operatives on Wednesday.
The parents reportedly waited for about three hours at the DSS headquarters before seeing their children. Security operatives also debriefed the victims before handing them over to their families.
One of the rescued corps members, Akande Morenikeji, described the experience as mentally and physically exhausting.
“Ah, it was stressful, too,” she said while recounting their ordeal.
Morenikeji disclosed that the female victims were not chained or sexually harassed during their captivity, although the male victims faced restrictions.
“We were not chained; the guys, yes, the guys mostly. But as for us, the girls, they did not do any sexual harassment to us. They did not do anything sexual to us,” she said.
The victims were abducted on Thursday, October 1, when gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses conveying them and other passengers along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State. The prospective corps members were travelling to Akwa Ibom and Abia states for their NYSC orientation exercise when the attackers intercepted the vehicles and took them into a forest.
Before their rescue, the abductors reportedly contacted the victims’ parents on Saturday and demanded a ransom of ₦1 billion, giving them 24 hours to pay. The kidnappers later reduced the demand to ₦5 million per victim, bringing the total to ₦100 million.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, subsequently deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of operations, Shehu Nadada, to coordinate efforts to secure the victims’ release.
The police said a joint team comprising operatives of the DSS, the military and the police carried out the rescue operation that secured the freedom of the 20 prospective corps members.
The incident sparked concerns over the safety of young Nigerians travelling long distances to attend NYSC orientation camps, with families enduring days of uncertainty while awaiting news of their loved ones.
