I paid N6m to secure my son’s release, says mother of freed NYSC member

The mother of one of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway says she paid N6 million to secure her son’s release.

The prospective corps members were abducted last Thursday after gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses carrying passengers from Ibadan, Oyo State, and took some of the occupants into the forest.

Speaking in an interview with News Central Television on Wednesday, the woman said the kidnappers initially demanded N50 million for each victim before reducing the ransom.

“Initially, they asked us to pay N50 million per head. We asked whether the amount was for all of them, but they insisted that no, it was for each person. Later, we started begging them to take N500,000. But they said no and started scaring us,” she said in Yoruba.

“Three days ago, they called and said we should pay N15 million. We kept begging them that all we had was N5.5 million. They said no and insisted on N6 million. So, it’s that N6 million we paid.”

The woman said the abductors instructed the victims’ parents to send representatives to meet them in Ibadan.

“They called all the parents of all the victims. Twenty of them are in the bush. They then asked us to send three persons each to meet with them in Ibadan. My husband and my son’s elder brother went.

“When they got to the meeting place, they asked them to send the money to an account and that when they got to Imo State, they should change the money into dollars.”

She said her elder son was among those who delivered the ransom to the kidnappers.

“It is not rumours. They have all been released and sent to us. His brother is among the people who went to meet with the abductors three days ago. They left with the ransom,” she said.

“It was the brother who called us this evening to say that they had handed the ransom to the kidnappers and that they had released our son. We also spoke to the boy.”

The woman, whose name was not disclosed, said the incident caused her severe emotional distress and prevented her from sleeping throughout her son’s captivity.

“Since he was kidnapped, I have been stooling. I couldn’t sleep either. But I was relieved when I heard they had been released. It was as though the chains all over me were loosened,” she said.

TheCable had reported that the prospective corps members were abducted in the early hours of October 1 when gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses travelling from Ibadan.

The buses, reportedly branded with the Abia State Government logo, were carrying passengers travelling to Akwa Ibom and Abia states when the attackers intercepted them and took some victims into the forest.

Henry Okoye, Imo State police spokesperson, confirmed the incident, saying it occurred at about 6:30am. He said 10 victims were rescued immediately while security operatives launched search-and-rescue operations for the remaining victims.

On Saturday, the kidnappers reportedly contacted the parents of the corps members and demanded N1 billion ransom, giving them 24 hours to pay.

The demand was later reduced to N5 million per victim, amounting to N100 million for the 20 remaining victims.

Following the abduction, Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu deployed Shehu Nadada, Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of operations, to coordinate efforts to rescue the victims.

Anietie Iniedu, spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force, said Nadada travelled to Imo State with two commissioners of police and conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the operation.

The police said the victims were eventually rescued on October 7 at Amakohia Ubi Village, Imo State, following sustained search-and-rescue operations involving operatives of the Department of State Services, military and police.

The rescued victims were subsequently taken for medical assessment and necessary care.