Key points

• The total demand has fallen from N1 billion to N100 million, with families saying police have urged them to “buy time.”
• Parents say the captives, including women, have been beaten since Friday, and disputed police claims that 10 passengers were rescued.
• Imo police say drones located the camp but operatives held back over suspected IEDs; bulldozers and APCs are being readied.

Kidnappers holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members seized on the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State have cut their ransom demand from N50 million to N5 million per victim, bringing the total from N1 billion to N100 million.

The reduction has brought little relief. Alimot Akande, whose child is among the captives, said the abductors began beating the victims on Friday and have not spared the women. “They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” she said through a daughter in Ibadan on Sunday.

According to Akande, the kidnappers allow one captive to take calls from his father because they believe the family can pay, then listen in to gauge the money available. Meanwhile, police have asked families to stall. “The police are telling us to still be buying time,” she said.

The graduates were traveling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom on Thursday when gunmen stopped their two buses near Umunoha.

Parents who visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, on Saturday released several names and disputed the police claim that 10 passengers were rescued, saying those who got away fled into the bush on their own.

Police say they know where the camp is

Imo State Commissioner of Police Audu Bosso said on Saturday that drones had pinpointed the camp after operatives trailed the abductors into the bush. However, intelligence indicated the site was mined with improvised explosive devices, so the team pulled back.

“We are moving in with bulldozers and APCs to see how we’re going to rescue these victims unhurt,” he said.

On Sunday, police spokesperson Henry Okoye said operatives were “gradually closing in,” and the 34 Artillery Briga

de in Owerri said all agencies were working together. Oyo’s police commissioner, Olugbenga Abimbola, said his Imo counterpart had assured him the victims would come home unhurt.

Political fallout widens

The abduction has become a lightning rod for the 2027 opposition. The ADC’s Bolaji Abdullahi called for a one-year suspension of the NYSC to reorganize it around corps members’ safety, and accused President Bola Tinubu of “blaming the victim” and ignoring insecurity in his Independence Day address.

Omoyele Sowore of the AAC went further, demanding the scheme be scrapped and corps members allowed to serve in their home states.

NDC candidate Peter Obi called for immediate rescue and arrests, writing on X that young Nigerians “were unable to travel safely on our roads.”

The Labour Party, SDP, YPP and Seyi Makinde’s campaign council issued similar demands, several citing Section 14(2) of the Constitution on the government’s duty to protect lives.

Consequently, even APC figures joined in. Oyo governorship candidate Sharafadeen Alli appealed for unconditional release and tighter security on routes used by corps members.

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, which says at least three graduates are among the captives, said it stood with the families.