20 freed NYSC members reunite with families, narrate ordeal – The Witness Nigeria

Twenty members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who were rescued after spending seven days in captivity in Imo State, have reunited with their families in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The corps members were handed over to their parents by the Department of State Services (DSS) in Oyo State at about 8:30pm on Thursday, according to a report by The Nation.

Their parents reportedly waited for about three hours at the DSS headquarters before seeing their children again.

This newspaper learnt that security operatives debriefed the victims before handing them over to their families.

One of the rescued corps members, Akande Morenikeji, described the experience as physically and emotionally exhausting.

“Ah, it was stressful, too,” she was quoted as saying.

Morenikeji said the female victims were not chained or sexually harassed during their captivity, although the male victims faced tighter restrictions.

“We were not chained; the guys, yes, the guys mostly. But as for us, the girls, they did not do any sexual harassment to us. They did not do anything sexual to us,” she said.

The 20 corps members were abducted on Thursday, October 1, when gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses travelling along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway in Imo State and took the occupants into a nearby forest.

The victims were reportedly travelling to Akwa Ibom and Abia states in buses bearing the Abia State Government logo when the attackers intercepted the vehicles.

A video of the incident subsequently circulated on social media platform X.

The corps members were rescued on Wednesday in an operation involving personnel from the DSS, military and Nigeria Police Force.

In a statement announcing their release, police spokesperson Anietie Iniedu said the operation was carried out by a joint team of security operatives.

Before the rescue, the abductors had reportedly contacted the victims’ parents on Saturday and demanded a ransom of ₦1bn, giving them 24 hours to pay.

The kidnappers later reduced their demand to ₦5m per victim, bringing the total ransom sought for the 20 corps members to ₦100m.

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

According to the police spokesperson, Nadada travelled to Imo with two commissioners of police, assessed the situation at the scene and reviewed the deployment of personnel and operational resources before issuing directives to strengthen the joint rescue effort.