A FAMILY of one of the 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State has revealed that it paid N6 million to secure its child’s release from kidnappers, despite the police attributing the freedom of the victims to a coordinated rescue operation by security agencies.
The mother of one of the victims, Alirat Wahab, said her family raised the money after the abductors initially demanded N50 million for her son before reducing the ransom to N15 million.
She said the family eventually paid N6 million after pleading with the abductors they could only raise N5.5 million.
Wahab disclosed this in a series of interview with News Central Television, where she and her husband recounted how they raised the money and sent family representatives to Imo State to deliver it.
Backstory
The ICIR reports that the prospective corps members were abducted on October 1 while travelling to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The victims were among passengers travelling in two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State when gunmen attacked them at about 6:30 a.m. near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area.
The attackers took several passengers into the bush.
The Imo State Police Command initially said 10 victims were rescued at the scene, while other victims remained in captivity and security agencies launched search-and-rescue operations.
The ICIR reported that one of the parents subsequently appealed to President Bola Tinubu and Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, to intervene in securing the release of the abducted corps members.
The parent said her daughter, Kehinde, sent the word ‘kidnappers’ to the family’s WhatsApp group shortly after the bus came under attack.
Six days after the attack, the police announced that all 20 prospective corps members had been ‘rescued.’
In a statement issued on October 7, CSP Anietie Iniedu, Force Public Relations Officer, said the victims were rescued at Amakohia Ubi Village in Imo State following sustained search-and-rescue operations involving the police and sister security agencies.
The police said the victims were subsequently taken for medical assessment and necessary care, while efforts continued to apprehend those responsible for the abduction.
Family says N6m was paid
But the account of the mother of one of the victims who spoke with News Central was different. She said, “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.”
She said the parents of the abducted victims were asked to send representatives to Ibadan, after which her husband and their elder son became involved in efforts to deliver the money.
The family representative was subsequently directed to send the money to an account and change it to dollars after getting to Imo State.
Wahab said her elder son eventually handed the ransom to the abductors and contacted the family afterwards to inform them that his brother had been released.
She said the experience left her traumatised and unable to sleep, adding that she was relieved when she was finally able to speak with her son after about a week in captivity.
The account of the fundraising, movement of representatives and payment was given by Wahab and her husband in the same interview.
I’m unaware of ransom payment – Police Commissioner
Reacting to the alleged ransom payment for the release of the victims, the Imo State Police Command said it was not aware that ransom was paid for the release of the abducted corps members.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Audu Bosso, said this in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, October 8.
Bosso said the kidnappers succumbed to pressure from security agencies after operatives combed the forest during the rescue operation.
He said the freed victims were receiving attention at the office of the State Security Services (SSS).
Ransom payments rising
The family’s account comes against the backdrop of growing concerns over kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria.
A recent analysis cited in the 9th Nigeria Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 16 Shadow Report found that at least 7,825 people were abducted in 1,713 incidents across Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026.
The report, which cited data from SBM Intelligence, also recorded at least 1,142 deaths during the period.
It estimated that kidnappers demanded about N22.9 billion in ransom and received approximately N7.78 billion, meaning about 34 per cent of the recorded ransom demands were reportedly paid.
The proportion represented a sharp increase from the previous year, when about 5.4 per cent of recorded ransom demands were reportedly paid.
The report said the increase suggested that kidnapping for ransom was becoming a more financially viable criminal enterprise and an increasingly significant source of illicit finance.
It also noted that kidnapping was spreading beyond traditional hotspots in the North-West and Middle Belt, with attacks increasingly recorded in southern parts of the country.
The SDG 16 report said weak prosecution rates, limited intelligence coordination, poverty, unemployment and governance deficits continued to create conditions that support organised criminal groups.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M