By Akinwale Kasali
The mother of one of the prospective Youth Corpers who have just regained their freedom after a scary seven days in captivity, has put a lie to the claim from Government quarters that they were rescued.
The claim was that the Corpers who were kidnapped when the two buses they boarded at Ibadan en route their orientation camps on October 1, 2026, were intercepted by kidnappers along the Onitsha-Owerri highway.
Speaking to News Central Television in Yoruba dialect, the relieved Mother of one the freed captives revealed that she paid N6 million ransom to secure her son’s release.
Initially, she said, the kidnappers demanded N50 million for each victim before eventually accepting N6 million for her son.
“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.
“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 idisclosed that the abductors asked the parents of the victims to send representatives to meet them in Ibadan as part of arrangements for the ransom payment.
“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 met the abductors and delivered the ransom.
“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.
“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 identity of the Woman wasn’t revealed, but she insisted that the abduction has left her traumatised and unable to sleep throughout the period her son was held captive.
“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.
This has raised questions about the sincerity of the FG and the Security Agencies, as regards the release of the kidnapper NYSC Members.
The FG never disclosed that any ransom was paid, as it just announced that the abductees were released to the Department of State Security, DSS, creating an impression that the NYSC Members were released voluntarily.
But the disclosure of one of the Parents of the abductees that ransom was paid, has however raised posers about the sincerity of the FG.
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