Gunmen who seized prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps travelling from Ibadan to their orientation camps have demanded N50 million for each victim, and have given their families a 24-hour ultimatum, with the Imo State Police Command confirming a total demand of N950 million while warning the families not to pay.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-IDRI-Masterclass.png")
The corps members were travelling in two buses operated by Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited when they were attacked along the Owerri-Onitsha Road at Umunoha, Imo State, on Thursday, 1 October 2026. They were heading to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom States.
The Managing Director of the transport company, Mr. Isiah Akpan, said the two buses left the Bodija/Samonda Park in Ibadan on Wednesday but were delayed by traffic around Benin, Edo State.
He said the vehicles reached Onitsha, Anambra State, late in the day and could not continue because of the condition of the road, forcing the drivers and passengers to spend the night at Oba. The buses resumed the journey at about 5 a.m. on Thursday.
They had barely entered Imo State when gunmen emerged from the bush.
“They blocked the two vehicles and took 19 passengers, all corps members, into the bush,” Akpan said.
He said the drivers escaped and alerted security personnel at a nearby checkpoint, prompting the police and the military to begin searching the area.
Akpan, however, said the search was initially complicated when some villagers allegedly prevented security personnel from removing the abandoned buses from the scene, and that the intervention delayed the movement of the officers as they attempted to pursue the abductors. The two buses were left at the scene with the passengers’ belongings scattered inside.
A manifest from the two affected vehicles listed 30 passengers, 15 in each bus. Two other vehicles operated by the same company and heading to Abia State escaped the attack.
Among those listed on the manifest were Akande Kehinde, Olaleye Mary, Oladosu Greatness, Obafunsho Rhoda, Abdulrof Anifat, Esther Oyede, Hassan Usman, Ayomide Isa, Mary Makinde, Azeez Adejoke and Abdulrazaq Anifat.
Mrs. Alimotu Akanke, the mother of one of the victims, Akande Farouq, said in a video that circulated on Friday that she had been tracking her son’s journey when the distress message arrived.
Farouq, who was posted to Abia State, managed to send a one-word message — “Kidnappers!” — to the family’s WhatsApp group before his telephone line went dead.
The abductors contacted the families using the telephone lines of the victims themselves.
One parent, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the abductors called her on Friday morning using her son’s phone. “The kidnappers called with my son’s phone this morning and demanded N50m for his release. The N50m is for only my son,” she said.
Another mother, Mrs. Oladosu, whose daughter Greatness was travelling to Uyo, said the family was contacted through her daughter’s line and was able to see her during a video call.
“They used my daughter’s number to call us. We saw her and other corps members sitting on the ground in the bush, crying. Where will petty traders get N50m? They are just going to serve Nigeria; why this punishment?” she said.
On Saturday, the affected parents went to the Bodija residence of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, together with the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, after the abductors threatened to deal decisively with the victims if the ransom was not paid within 24 hours.
Speaking for the others, Alhaja Alimot Akande and Mr. Oyebola Michael Akande appealed to the monarch and the police commissioner to intervene.
“They have been calling us since yesterday with a demand for N50 million ransom each. They are threatening that anything untoward will happen to our children if we fail to heed their request,” they said.
“There is no way we can raise such amount at this period. Baba, kindly assist us. Don’t let them kill our children.”
The Olubadan assured the parents that their children would be recovered unharmed.
“I want to assure that your children would be rescued unharmed. We will relate whatever information we gather to you. The Police are working round the clock to secure their rescue. Don’t worry yourself, Police are up to the task, and nothing would happen to your children,” he said.
The Oyo State Commissioner of Police said he had been in contact with his counterpart in Imo State. “I had already contacted Imo State CP. We have been talking since the day of the incident, and he assured me that the victims would be rescued unhurt,” he said.
Police Confirm The Demand, And Advise Against Payment
The Imo State Police Command confirmed the ransom demand of N950 million for the release of the prospective corps members and other travellers.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Henry Okoye, said the search and bush-combing operation was continuing and that the team was closing in on the location, adding that the difficulty at present was that the precise position of the victims and their abductors remained unclear.
He advised family members and friends not to give the abductors any money.
“The safety of the victims is more important than any other thing,” he said.
The Command had earlier, on Thursday night, said that 10 victims had been rescued, with Okoye explaining that security agencies were on the trail of the abductors and had launched a coordinated search for the remaining victims. He could not confirm whether those rescued were among the abducted corps members.
IGP Deploys DIG Operations To Imo State
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, DIG Shehu Umar Nadada, to Imo State to provide operational direction for the search-and-rescue mission.
According to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, the DIG arrived in the state with two Commissioners of Police and conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and of the ongoing efforts of the Command, reviewing operational strategies, the deployment of personnel and operational assets, and issuing further directives to strengthen the coordinated response.
The assessment was conducted alongside the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, CP Audu Garba Bosso; the Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations, CP Akpan Anifiok; the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Police Mobile Force; and other service commanders and members of the Command’s management team.
The statement said the operation had been intensified with additional deployments of tactical teams and operational assets across identified areas, backed by intelligence-led tracking of the suspects, and that the police were working in close coordination with sister security agencies.
DIG Nadada assured the public that the Force was committed to the safe rescue of the abducted persons and would sustain the operation until the mission was concluded. He urged members of the public and the media to remain calm and vigilant, and encouraged anyone with credible information to contact the police or the nearest security formation, adding that all information received would be treated in strict confidence.
The Figures Do Not Yet Agree
The number of victims has been put at 19 by the transport company, at 18 by the Imo State Police Command in confirming the ransom demand, and at 20 in the Force Headquarters statement and by the parents who visited the Olubadan.
The ransom figures track those counts. A demand of N50 million per victim produces N950 million at 19 victims and N1 billion at 20, which accounts for the two totals in circulation. The report of a demand for “N1 billion each” appears to be a rendering of the aggregate rather than a per-family figure, and the parents’ own account to the Olubadan was of N50 million for each victim.
The identity of the Oyo State Commissioner of Police has also been given variously as Mr. Abimbola Ayodeji and Mr. Olugbenga Abimbola in accounts of the same visit.
Oyo Government Condemns The Abduction
The Oyo State Government condemned the incident as distressing and reprehensible in a statement issued in Ibadan on Friday by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dotun Oyelade.
He said the government was in close communication with the security agencies, the Imo State Government and the leadership of the NYSC to ensure an urgent and coordinated response, and that Governor Seyi Makinde had directed that all necessary resources be deployed to secure the safe return of the victims.
The commissioner said the governor emphasised that the safety and well-being of every Oyo State indigene, within and outside the state, remained a top priority.
“We are fully committed to securing the safe release of our children and will stop at nothing to ensure that they are reunited with their families without harm,” the statement read.
The government urged the affected families to remain calm, and called on the security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue the victims and apprehend the perpetrators.
Friends Mount Social Media Campaigns
Persons describing themselves as friends of the abducted graduates took to social media to seek support for their rescue. One of the victims was identified as Precious Oladipupo, a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University.
Writing on X, a user, Adebayo (@Adebayoakim1), solicited public support for the release of Wahab Ayandare, whom he said was abducted in the same incident. Another, Akinlabi Abayomi (@Mubiiiiin), appealed for help for Oyindamola Adeoye, and said the abductors had demanded N50 million for her release.
A Pattern Along The Mobilisation Routes
The Imo attack came 36 days after 15 prospective corps members travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja were abducted along the Aloma-Egane Expressway in the Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State on 26 August. Security forces later rescued them and other victims from the Egume Forest in the same local government area.
In May, an Abuja-based lawyer and corps member, Eunice Ameh, was abducted in Maitama, Abuja, and regained her freedom after a ransom was reportedly paid. In January, a corps member, Musa Abba, was abducted by bandits while travelling to Sokoto.
Also in January 2026, Lateefah Binuyo was abducted in Kogi State while travelling to an orientation camp in Taraba State, and regained her freedom after 10 days in captivity. Her abduction prompted the Lagos State House of Assembly to call for improved security along the major routes used by corps members.
In February 2023, 15 corps members abducted in Anambra State were rescued by the police, and in 2022 a corps member was killed during an exchange of fire between bandits and security operatives along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway.
A 2023 report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism found that at least 80 corps members were abducted between 2013 and 2023, with Rivers State accounting for half of the recorded cases. More than 20 corps members have been killed in various attacks between 2015 and 2026.
[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
Available now for NGN 40,000 at ASC Publications, 10, Boyle Street, Onikan, Lagos. Beside High Court, TBS. Email publications@ayindesanni.com or WhatsApp +2347056667384. Purchase Link: https://paystack.com/buy/evidence-act-complete-annotation
______________________________________________________________________ “Enhance Legal Practice With Authoritative Reports” — Alexander Payne Offers Comprehensive Law Reports, Spanning Over A Century Of Nigerian Jurisprudence
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
