Key points
- Gunmen stopped two Uko Akwa Ibom Motors buses at Umunoha around 5 a.m. Thursday and marched 19 passengers into the bush.
- Families say abductors called from victims’ phones demanding N50 million each; one mother saw her daughter on a video call.
- Imo police said 10 people were rescued Thursday night but could not confirm they were among the corps members.
Families of 19 prospective corps members abducted on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State are facing a combined ransom demand of N950 million, with the kidnappers asking N50 million for each graduate.
The victims were traveling in two buses operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors from Ibadan to National Youth Service Corps orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom.
According to the company’s managing director, Isiah Akpan, the buses left Bodija/Samonda Park on Wednesday but lost time in traffic around Benin and stopped overnight in Oba, Anambra State, because the road ahead was unsafe to travel at night.
They set off again around 5 a.m. on Thursday. Minutes after crossing into Imo State, gunmen emerged from the bush at Umunoha, blocked both vehicles and took the 19 passengers away.
The drivers escaped and raised the alarm at a nearby checkpoint, prompting a police and military search.
However, Akpan said some villagers initially prevented security personnel from removing the abandoned buses, which delayed the pursuit. The vehicles were left at the scene with the passengers’ belongings scattered inside.
Calls from the bush
By Friday morning, the abductors had begun phoning families from the victims’ own handsets. One mother said she was told N50 million would free her son alone.
Another, Mrs. Oladosu, said her daughter Greatness was shown on a video call sitting on the ground with other corps members, crying. “Where will petty traders get N50m?” she asked. “They are just going to serve Nigeria; why this punishment?”
Alimotu Akanke, mother of Akande Farouq, said her son managed one word in the family WhatsApp group before his line went dead: “Kidnappers!”
The Imo State Police Command said on Thursday night that 10 people had been rescued and that a coordinated search was under way.
Even so, spokesperson Henry Okoye could not confirm whether those rescued were among the abducted corps members.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government condemned the attack as “distressing and reprehensible.” Commissioner for Information Dotun Oyelade said Gov. Seyi Makinde had directed that all necessary resources be deployed and that the state was coordinating with the Imo government, security agencies and NYSC leadership.
A pattern along the routes
The attack came 36 days after 15 prospective corps members were seized on the Aloma-Egane Expressway in Kogi State on Aug. 26 and later rescued from Egume Forest.
Earlier this year, corps members were abducted in Kogi, Sokoto and Abuja. A 2023 Foundation for Investigative Journalism report counted at least 80 corps members kidnapped between 2013 and 2023.
Security analyst Chidi Omeje said criminals exploit the predictable timing of NYSC mobilization. Consequently, he urged the government to secure known kidnapping corridors during deployment periods.
Olalekan Jackson-Ojo went further, suggesting graduates serve within their own regions rather than being sent to high-risk areas.
NYSC’s director of public relations, Caroline Embu, had not responded to inquiries at press time.
