Tension and panic have gripped families of prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in Imo State after their captors reportedly demanded a staggering N50 million for each victim and issued a 24-hour ultimatum for payment, threatening to kill the graduates if their demands are not met.
The victims, mostly fresh graduates of the University of Ibadan and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, were travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom States when gunmen ambushed two buses conveying them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area on Thursday morning.
Parents and relatives of the victims have been thrown into serious distress following calls they have been receiving from the abductors, who are said to be using the phones of the abducted prospective corps members to contact their families and issue threats that something terrible would happen to their children if the ransom is not paid promptly.
One of the parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the kidnappers sounded heartless and determined, warning that they would not hesitate to harm the victims if the families failed to raise the huge amount demanded within the time frame they have given.
While initial reports put the number of abducted prospective corps members at 20, the latest information available indicates that 19 corps members are currently being held in captivity by the gunmen, a figure that puts the total ransom demand at N950 million, close to N1 billion.
The development has sparked widespread outrage across the country, with many Nigerians expressing shock that young graduates who were on their way to serve their fatherland under the mandatory one-year national service scheme could be waylaid and taken into captivity in such a brazen manner.
The Owerri-Onitsha Road, where the attack occurred, has long been identified as a dangerous corridor where cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes are frequently reported, especially in the lonely stretches around Umunoha and adjoining communities in Mbaitoli LGA.
According to eyewitness accounts, the gunmen, who were heavily armed, blocked the road and forced the two buses to stop before ordering the passengers to come down at gunpoint and marching them into the bush, while some passengers who managed to escape ran into nearby villages to raise alarm.
The Imo State Police Command has confirmed the attack and said that 10 victims were rescued shortly after the incident following a swift response by its operatives, adding that security agencies have intensified efforts to locate and rescue those still in captivity and to apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state said a combined team of policemen, soldiers and local vigilantes are currently combing the forests and surrounding areas in Mbaitoli and neighbouring local government areas as part of a coordinated search and rescue operation.
However, families of the victims say they are yet to receive any cheering news from the security agencies, as the kidnappers have continued to call them to demand ransom and threaten the lives of their children, leaving them confused, helpless and unable to sleep.
With most of the families being ordinary Nigerians who cannot afford to raise N50 million for each victim, let alone a total of N950 million, questions are being asked about what the government should do to secure the immediate and safe release of the abducted graduates without putting their lives at risk.
Many parents have appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu, the Governors of Imo, Oyo, Abia and Akwa Ibom States, the Director-General of the NYSC and the Inspector-General of Police to intervene urgently and deploy all necessary resources to rescue their children without delay.
Civil society organisations and youth groups have also condemned the abduction, describing it as an attack on the future of Nigeria and a sad reflection of the deteriorating security situation in the country, where young people are no longer safe even while travelling to serve their nation.
They argued that the Federal Government has a constitutional responsibility to protect the lives and property of its citizens, particularly corps members who are under the care of the state during their service year, and that failure to rescue the victims quickly would send a wrong signal about the value placed on Nigerian youths.
Some security experts have urged the government not to encourage payment of ransom, warning that doing so could embolden kidnappers to carry out more abductions, but rather to rely on intelligence-driven operations, technology and inter-agency collaboration to secure the release of the victims unhurt.
Others have called for a total overhaul of the NYSC mobilisation and deployment process, suggesting that prospective corps members should no longer be made to travel long distances by road through unsafe routes but should be allowed to report to orientation camps closest to their states of residence or be transported in secured convoys.
Meanwhile, the management of the NYSC has yet to issue a comprehensive statement on the incident, a silence that has been criticised by many Nigerians who believe the scheme should be at the forefront of efforts to secure the release of the abducted prospective corps members and to reassure other corps members of their safety.
As the 24-hour ultimatum issued by the abductors ticks, anxiety continues to mount among families, friends and colleagues of the victims, with many spending hours in prayer and making frantic efforts to raise whatever amount they can while awaiting intervention from government and security agencies.
The abduction has once again brought to the fore the urgent need for the Federal and State Governments to address the growing insecurity on Nigerian roads, to dismantle kidnapping syndicates operating across the country and to ensure that no Nigerian youth is put in harm’s way while answering the call to serve his or her fatherland.
