Families of the 20 released NYSC members say they paid millions of naira in ransom before news of the rescue reached them, directly contradicting official suggestions that a security operation alone secured their freedom.
The graduates were abducted on October 1 while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia State after gunmen attacked their two buses at Umunoha on the Owerri-Onitsha Road. Seven days passed before any of them walked free.
One mother said she raised ₦3 million out of fear for her child’s safety. “I paid as much as ₦3 million as ransom while I was hoping that nothing happened to my child. I ran helter-skelter to raise the money,” she told News Central Television.
Another parent, a farmer, said he borrowed ₦6 million to secure his son’s release, with relatives gathering in Ibadan to pool funds and converting some of the money into dollars before sending it to Imo State.
“We had to converge somewhere in Ibadan, Oyo State, to put the money together,” the father said, adding, “Some of us even changed the money to dollars and sent it to Imo State to meet whoever was coming to pick it.”
One family spokesperson, Alhaja Alimot Akande, confirmed that the release came with a financial burden, saying individual families had made separate arrangements. “The release did not come for free,” Akande disclosed, adding that the abductors had communicated their demands directly to each family.
The initial ransom demand was ₦50 million per victim, placing the total at ₦1 billion. That figure was later reduced to ₦5 million per person, bringing the aggregate demand to ₦100 million. Akande said negotiations over those figures were handled independently by each family without coordination from authorities.
Authorities have not publicly provided details on whether any ransom was paid or whether arrests were made during the rescue operation. That silence has added fuel to public frustration.
Days before the release, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, said operatives had used drones to locate the hideout but that a rescue operation had been delayed by intelligence indicating the area was heavily mined with improvised explosive devices.
Bosso told reporters, “The drone actually showed us exactly their location. But our predicament is that with the intel we have, the IEDs the camp is mined with IEDs.” Three days later, the corpers walked out of that same forest.
The CP’s earlier comments had already sparked reactions online, with some Nigerians questioning why operatives could locate the hideout but were unable to move in. The fact that no mine detonated when the corpers emerged deepened those questions.
X user @n6oflife6 captured the mood that trailed the release, writing, “Police Chief Talk says they have located the kidnapped NYSC corps, but they can’t rescue them because the area is filled with mines. Today the same corpers were released and walked out of the forests. No Mines Blew Up. One day we will know who is really kidnapping people in Nigeria.”
The victims were freed on Wednesday, October 7, following what authorities described as a coordinated search-and-rescue operation by security agencies.
Operatives of the DSS, the military, and the Nigeria Police Force all took part. The rescued victims were subsequently taken to a DSS facility in Owerri for medical attention.
NYSC Director-General Brigadier-General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu reportedly visited the hospital to see the victims and assess their condition. He was accompanied by other NYSC officials who confirmed the identities of all 20 released members.
As of Wednesday evening, family members said the rescued youths were still in DSS custody, preventing parents from speaking directly with them or confirming their physical condition.
While expressing relief over his son’s release, one of the fathers said the debt incurred to pay the ransom remained a source of concern. For families that borrowed and converted money across state lines to buy back their children, the question of who actually secured that release remains unanswered.
