The mother of one of the recently freed prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State has revealed that her family paid N6 million in ransom to secure her son’s release.
The prospective corps members were abducted on October 1 after gunmen attacked two buses travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, towards the South-East and South-South.
The attack occurred along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State, leaving several prospective corps members in the hands of the abductors.
The mother, who spoke about the ordeal in an interview with News Central Television on Wednesday, October 7, said the kidnappers initially demanded N50 million for each victim.
According to her, the demand was later reduced following negotiations between the abductors and the families of the victims.
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.
She explained that the kidnappers later contacted the families and demanded N15 million for her son.
The family, she said, told the abductors that they could only raise about N5.5 million, but the kidnappers eventually insisted on N6 million. 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,” she said.
The mother said the abductors instructed relatives of the victims to send representatives to meet them in Ibadan as part of the arrangements for the ransom payment.
According to her, representatives from the affected families travelled to the meeting point, where they were given instructions on how the ransom should be transferred.
She said her husband and her son’s elder brother were among those who went for the meeting. 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.
She added that the representatives were instructed to transfer the money into an account and later convert it to dollars when they reached Imo State.
Her elder son was also reportedly involved in the ransom delivery.
The mother said the family eventually received confirmation that her son had been released after the ransom was delivered.
She explained that her other son contacted the family to inform them that the payment had been handed over to the kidnappers and that the abducted NYSC member had been freed. 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,” she said.
The mother described the period of her son’s abduction as an extremely difficult experience, saying the uncertainty over his safety took a heavy emotional toll on her.
She said she struggled to sleep and experienced persistent health difficulties while her son remained in 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.
The release of the abducted prospective corps members has brought relief to their families, although the circumstances surrounding the attack and the payment of ransom have once again highlighted the security challenges faced by travellers along major highways in parts of Nigeria.
