NYSC offers freed kidnap victims South-West deployment

The 20 prospective corps members released by suspected kidnappers on Wednesday have reportedly been offered postings to any of the six South-West states, Saturday PUNCH reports.

A parent, who spoke to the newspaper in confidence on Friday, said the survivors were allowed to choose the states where they would continue their national service.

“They have been given the opportunity to choose states in the South-West to continue their service with the current batch,” she said.

She disclosed that the families paid N6m in ransom for each graduate.

“As for the ransom, we eventually paid N6m each, but we wanted them freed before disclosing that,” she said.

Another parent, Alirat Wahab, told News Central Television the kidnappers initially demanded N50m per captive before accepting N6m.

The graduates were abducted on October 1 along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State while travelling in two commercial buses.

Police announced their rescue on Wednesday, but the families insisted ransom was paid. The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, said he was unaware of any ransom payment.

The NYSC spokesperson, Caroline Embu, did not respond to enquiries as of press time.