Parents of the 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members kidnapped in Imo State have told the BBC that they raised money to pay a ransom in US dollars before their children were released.
According to the BBC, one of the parents, who asked not to be identified, said no security agency was responsible for securing the release of the victims, contrary to the claim by the Nigeria Police Force that the corps members-to-be were rescued after a search-and-rescue operation.
The parent told BBC News Yoruba that parents, friends and people online contributed money to enable each family pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
“No single person was responsible for securing the release of our children,” the parent was quoted by the BBC as saying.
The parent also told the BBC that the Department of State Services made efforts to rescue the victims and later invited the parents to assist with its investigation.
According to the BBC report, the parent said the DSS was aware that the parents changed the ransom money into US dollars through a bureau de change operator before delivering it to the kidnappers.
The parent described the amount paid as “big money” but declined to disclose the exact sum.
Another parent, speaking in a video interview with a local media organisation, told the BBC that her family paid N6m to secure the release of her son after negotiating with the kidnappers. She, however, said the amount varied from one victim to another.
The 20 prospective corps members had spent almost a week in captivity before their release, according to the BBC.
The development has raised fresh questions over the circumstances surrounding the release, after the police announced on Wednesday that all 20 victims and another abductee had been rescued.
Police spokesperson, Ani Iniedu, said the victims were rescued at Amakohia Ubi village in Imo State following intelligence-led searches of forests and suspected kidnappers’ hideouts involving the police, military and other security agencies.
“Efforts are ongoing to apprehend those responsible for the abduction,” Iniedu said, according to the BBC.
The police did not say whether ransom was paid or whether any of the kidnappers had been arrested.
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, also commended the security agencies for what he described as their “quick intervention”, as well as their “collaboration and patriotism” in securing the release of the victims.
The palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan also confirmed the release of the prospective corps members, who had travelled from Ibadan, Oyo State, to attend their NYSC orientation exercise.
The victims were abducted on October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day, when gunmen attacked two buses carrying graduates travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The attack occurred in Umunoha, near Owerri, the Imo State capital. The police later announced that 10 of the victims had been rescued.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, subsequently said security operatives had located the area where the remaining victims were being held but could not immediately enter because the kidnappers had surrounded the location with explosives.
Bosso said the police were restrategising and would deploy caterpillars and other heavy-duty vehicles to access the area and rescue the victims.
The BBC reported that, during the period of the victims’ captivity, local media reports quoted parents as saying the kidnappers had contacted them and demanded N50m for each victim.
The police announcement of the rescue also triggered scepticism among some Nigerians on social media, with users questioning how the victims could have been rescued without arrests or casualties among the kidnappers.
The BBC quoted one X user, Emmanuel, as asking: “You rescued them all without apprehending perpetrators?”
Another user, @Skynet_006, questioned how 20 people could have been rescued from armed kidnappers without any reported arrests or deaths among the attackers.
The prospective corps members were travelling to begin the compulsory one-year NYSC community service programme, under which Nigerian graduates are posted to different parts of the country.
The incident has renewed concerns about kidnapping and insecurity along major roads in the South-East.
Kidnapping for ransom remains a major security problem in Nigeria, involving criminal gangs and armed groups. Authorities have not disclosed the identities of those behind the abduction.
Although the payment of ransom to kidnappers is illegal in Nigeria, the BBC reported that the ban has not stopped ransom payments or eliminated the financial incentive for kidnapping gangs.
One of the parents also told the BBC that her daughter would not return to Imo State to complete her service year if she was required to remain there.
The parent said the prospective corps member would only continue the NYSC programme if she was redeployed to Oyo or Ogun State.
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