The 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members recently freed from kidnappers’ captivity in Imo State have been granted the option to complete their mandatory national service across the South-West region.
The graduates were abducted on October 1, along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State while travelling in commercial buses to their respective orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
Although the Imo State Police Command stated that security operatives rescued the captives during a joint clearance operation in Amakohia Ubi village on Wednesday, relatives of the victims claimed they paid N6 million for each graduate to secure their release.
According to Alirat Wahab, the mother of one of the victims, the ransom was coordinated through an intermediary in Ibadan, Oyo State, before being converted into United States dollars and paid to the kidnappers.
After their release, the prospective corps members were transported to the Department of State Services (DSS) medical facility in Owerri for evaluation and treatment. The Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, alongside the Imo State Commissioner of Police and the Commander of the 34 Artillery Brigade, subsequently visited the survivors.
The recurring abduction of travelling graduates has raised fresh concerns by Nigerians, who are now calling on the Federal Government to overhaul the deployment policies of the 53-year-old scheme to guarantee the safety of participants.
Leave a comment