The kidnappers holding about 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State have reportedly 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 young graduates from about N1 billion to N100 million.
However, the development has done little to calm the victims’ families, as one of the parents disclosed that the abducted graduates were being beaten and tortured by their captors.
The victims were reportedly travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when gunmen attacked two buses conveying them around Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road on Thursday.
One of the parents, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said the kidnappers had lowered the demand but continued to subject the victims to physical assault.
“The kidnappers had reduced their demand from the earlier N50m per victim to N5m each. They are still demanding N5m,” she said.
Akande appealed to the Federal Government and other relevant authorities to intensify efforts to secure the immediate release of the victims, saying the families were living through an extremely distressing period.
She said the kidnappers were not sparing any of the abducted graduates, including the female victims, adding, “They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them.”
According to her, at least one of the victims had been allowed to speak with his father by telephone, but the calls appeared to be part of the kidnappers’ efforts to establish whether the family could raise the ransom.
She said the parents had been receiving assurances from the police while efforts continued to secure the victims’ release.
The families had earlier visited the private residence of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in Bodija, Ibadan, where they appealed for assistance.
Ladoja assured them that efforts were being made to secure the safe return of their children, while the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, said he had been in contact with his Imo counterpart over the incident.
Meanwhile, security agencies in Imo State said operations were continuing to locate and rescue the victims.
The police said they were closing in on the suspected location of the abductors, while the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, said security agencies were working jointly to secure the victims’ release.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, had earlier disclosed that security operatives had identified the suspected kidnappers’ camp through drone surveillance.
He said, however, that the rescue operation was being approached cautiously because intelligence indicated that the area had been planted with improvised explosive devices.
The police commissioner said operatives had trailed the kidnappers into the bush but could not immediately enter the location identified by the drones because of the reported presence of the explosives.
The abduction has triggered widespread concern and renewed debate over the safety and future of the NYSC scheme.
The African Democratic Congress has called for a one-year suspension of the scheme to enable the Federal Government to reorganise it and introduce stronger safety measures, while other opposition parties and political figures have demanded the immediate rescue of the victims.
The incident has also drawn reactions from political parties, former presidential candidates and educational institutions, with several groups accusing the Federal Government of failing to adequately protect Nigerians.
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, confirmed that some of its graduates were among those reportedly abducted and expressed solidarity with their families, urging coordinated security action to secure their release.
With the victims still in captivity, their families are now facing the dual burden of raising the reduced N100 million ransom demand and fears over the safety of their loved ones.
