Panic has gripped families of 19 graduates abducted while travelling to their National Youth Service Corps orientation camps after their kidnappers demanded N950 million for their release.
The victims, who were heading to camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom States, were attacked on the Owerri-Onitsha expressway at Umunoha in Imo State on Thursday.
Confirming the incident to Saturday PUNCH, the Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, said the gunmen are asking for N50 million per victim.
According to Akpan, whose company owns the two buses conveying the prospective corps members, the journey started from Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan, Oyo State on Wednesday.
He explained that the buses were held up by traffic around Benin, Edo State, and later got to Onitsha, Anambra State late at night. Due to poor road conditions and safety concerns, the drivers and passengers had to pass the night in Oba.
The trip resumed at about 5:00 a.m. on Thursday. Akpan said the buses had just crossed into Imo State when armed men came out from the bush, blocked both vehicles and whisked away 19 passengers into the forest.
He added that the drivers escaped and quickly alerted security operatives at a nearby checkpoint, which led to police and soldiers launching a search.
Akpan further stated that the rescue effort was slowed down when some villagers allegedly stopped security agents from towing the abandoned buses from the scene, leaving the passengers’ belongings scattered inside.
Some parents also told PUNCH that they received calls from their children’s phones with the same N50m demand per person.
Meanwhile, the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, disclosed that 10 persons had been rescued as of Thursday night, but did not clarify if they were part of the 19 abducted graduates, noting that coordinated operations are ongoing.
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