Ibi Phillip, a graduate of Benue State University, has recounted how his journey to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Akure, Ondo State, turned into a nine-day ordeal after he was abducted alongside 11 other travellers along the Ibillo axis of Edo State, in an interview with AYOOLA OLASUPO.
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Phillip, a Mass Communication graduate of Benue State University, said he boarded a bus operated by Benue Links Nigeria Limited on September 30, 2026, en route to his NYSC orientation camp posting in Akure. He said the driver suddenly stopped at Ibillo, Edo State, and armed men, two of them dressed in army camouflage, emerged and ordered the vehicle’s occupants to lie on the ground. The gunmen seized his phone, waist bag, keys and other belongings before marching the passengers into the forest. He said the driver and two other passengers managed to escape during the abduction, as the kidnappers only pursued them briefly before letting them go. The remaining 12 victims, eight men and four women, including a girl aged about 13 or 14, were taken through the forest from Ibillo towards Okene in Kogi State over roughly two days.
Describing his first night in captivity as “horrible and terrifying,” Phillip said the victims slept on bare rocks in the open, exposed to rain and sun, and were denied food on the first day. He said they were given rice and beans the following day, October 1, along with stream water, which remained their only source of drinking water throughout their captivity. He said the kidnappers beat him “mercilessly” while demanding money, including while he was on phone calls with his family, and that the group was relocated to around six or seven different forest locations during the nine days, sometimes being woken as late as 8pm or 9pm to be moved after only about two hours of sleep.
Phillip said the kidnappers initially demanded N15 million in ransom, instructing the victims to contact their families to raise the funds. When his father disclosed he had only N700,000 available, the kidnappers intensified torture against Phillip, accusing his father of not taking the demand seriously. Negotiations eventually settled at N2 million after his father raised the amount in stages, from N700,000 to N1.7 million before reaching N2 million.
He said ransom amounts varied across the twelve victims. One man paid N4 million, the highest amount, after the kidnappers came to believe, based on an AI-generated image, that he was a doctor, leading them to demand more from him. Others paid amounts including N1.2 million and N1.6 million. He said two women, whose relatives stopped answering the kidnappers’ calls, were severely beaten as a result.
Phillip said the twelve victims were released on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at about 7pm, after the ransom payments were delivered to Okene. He said three armed men guarded the captives while five others collected the funds, and that the captives were freed and reunited with their families once payment was confirmed. He said the kidnappers gave each victim N2,000 from the ransom collected before sharing the rest among themselves and their leader, the man in army camouflage who oversaw the group. His phone, taken during the abduction, was never returned.
Phillip said his father and the families of other victims reported the incident to the transport company, which told them the Department of State Services (DSS) had instructed it not to communicate with the kidnappers. He said that after his release, the victims’ families approached both the DSS and the Commissioner of Police, and that both agencies claimed to be unaware of the incident, leaving him feeling that “the government and the authorities had abandoned the matter.” He said he later reported the incident to the nearest NYSC office alongside his father, where the state coordinator asked why the report had not been made earlier and said the matter would be escalated to the state coordinator in Akure; Phillip said he has not yet received feedback.
Phillip said the psychological effects of his captivity have not fully subsided, describing a recent incident during a trip to Abuja in which he became frightened after seeing a stranded motorist and asked his driver to slow down, before realising the man’s car had simply broken down. He said he is currently on medication and feeling better, and urged young people travelling to unfamiliar locations to remain security-conscious and take necessary precautions. He thanked God for his safe return and credited his father for taking personal risks, including travelling toward the forest, to help secure his release.
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