The mother of a freed National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member has disclosed that her family paid N6 million in ransom, after the kidnappers initially demanded N50 million per victim. The woman, whose name was not disclosed, gave the first detailed account from a victim's family since the corps members were freed, in an interview with News Central Television on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
According to TheCable, the 20 NYSC members and one civilian were abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha expressway in Imo State. They were later rescued on October 7, 2026, at Amakohia Ubi Village, Imo State, by a joint security team comprising multiple security agencies.
Negotiations from N50 Million to N6 Million
During the interview, the mother said the abductors originally demanded N50 million per person, not for the group as a whole. She explained that when the family asked whether the amount was for all the victims, the kidnappers insisted it was for each person.
"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.
After days of negotiations, the kidnappers reduced their demand. "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 added.
Ransom Delivery Process and Emotional Toll
The mother revealed that the kidnappers instructed the parents of all victims to send three representatives each to a meeting point in Ibadan. Her husband and her son's elder brother made the trip. Upon reaching the meeting place, the kidnappers asked them to send the money to an account and later instructed them to convert the money into dollars when they got to Imo State.
Her elder son was among those who physically handed over the ransom. It was he who called the family to confirm the handover and the subsequent release. "It was the brother who called us this evening to say that they had handed the ransom to the kidnappers and that they had released our son. We also spoke to the boy," she said.
The woman described the emotional toll of the ordeal, saying she neither slept nor felt at ease for the entire duration of her son's captivity. "Since he was kidnapped, I have been stooling. I couldn't sleep either. But I was relieved when I heard they had been released. It was as though the chains all over me were loosened," she said.
Related Developments and Calls for NYSC Act Amendment
In a related development, a 55-year-old Ibadan woman, Janet Oladosu, appealed to the Federal Government and security agencies to prioritise rescuing 20 abducted prospective corps members. Oladosu's son, Greatness, secretly texted her from captivity after the group was abducted near Umunoha in Mbaitoli LGA, Imo State, on October 1, 2026.
Pan-Yoruba group Afenifere also called on the Federal Government to urgently amend the NYSC Act to allow graduates to serve closer to their states of origin. The rescue operation, which involved multiple security agencies, led to the safe release of all 20 NYSC members and one civilian, confirming the effectiveness of the joint security response.
