Kidnappers who abducted 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have demanded N1 billion ransom and reportedly given their families 24 hours to raise the money for their release.
The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective NYSC orientation camps on Thursday when gunmen reportedly attacked the two buses conveying them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State.
The abductors are demanding N50 million for each of the victims, bringing the total ransom to N1 billion.
Parents of the abducted graduates disclosed the ransom demand on Saturday when they visited the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, at his private residence in Bodija, Ibadan.
The parents, who were accompanied by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, and the Aseyin of Iseyinland, Oba Sefiu Adeyeri, appealed for urgent intervention to secure the victims’ release.
Speaking on behalf of the affected families, Alhaja Akande and Oyebola Akande said the kidnappers had been contacting them through the mobile phones of the abducted prospective corps members.
They said the abductors threatened to harm their children if the ransom was not paid within the stipulated period.
The parents said they could not raise N1 billion and appealed to the traditional ruler and security agencies to intervene.
Ladoja assured the families that efforts were being made to rescue the victims unharmed, adding that the police were working round the clock to secure their release.
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The Oyo State Commissioner of Police said he had been in contact with his Imo State counterpart, who assured him that the victims would be rescued safely.
However, he did not disclose whether any ransom had been paid or provide details of the ongoing rescue operation.
Meanwhile, security agencies have intensified efforts to locate and rescue the abducted prospective corps members.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, said security operatives had deployed drones to identify the suspected camp where the victims were being held.
He, however, said the operation had been delayed following intelligence that improvised explosive devices had allegedly been planted around the camp.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has also deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate the search-and-rescue operation.
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