The 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abd¥cted by gunmen in Imo State have allegedly been subjected to physical ass@ult by their captors, with the kidn@ppers reportedly reducing their ransom demand to N5 million per victim.
The graduates were abd¥cted on Thursday while travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. They were reportedly att@cked along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, while travelling in two buses.
A relative of one of the victims, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said the abd¥ctors initially demanded N50 million for each victim but had now reduced it to N5 million.
“They are still demanding N5 million. They have come down to N5 million each,” she said.
Akande also alleged that the abd¥ctors had started be@ting the victims, including the women.
“When I spoke to my sister, they started be@ting them since yesterday,” she said.
Asked if the female victims were also being ass@ulted, she replied: “They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them.”
She said one victim was also allowed to speak with his father, with the abd¥ctors reportedly monitoring the calls to assess the family’s ability to raise the ransom.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government said it was working with the Imo State Government and security agencies to secure the victims’ release.
Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the government was drawing on its experience from the recent Oriire abd¥ction to assist efforts in Imo State.
“Oyo State Government had not and will not abandon its citizens. We will continue to work endlessly and desperately to secure the release of our children,” he said.
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