Kidnappers brutalise 20 corps members, reduce ransom to N5m each

Kidnappers holding 20 prospective NYSC members abducted in Imo State have reportedly beaten their captives and cut their ransom demand to N5 million per victim, Vanguard reports. The development came as the abductors’ reported payment deadline approached, heightening anxiety among the families.

Alhaja Alimot Akande, whose 25-year-old sister Kehinde is among the abducted, said the female victims were not spared and the demand had dropped from N50 million. “They are still demanding N5 million. They have come down to N5 million each,” she said. She added that police had asked families to keep buying time.

Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the government was in contact with Imo State and security agencies, and was applying lessons from the Oriire kidnapping. It will not disclose all aspects of its strategy. The victims were abducted on Thursday along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha while travelling from Ibadan in two buses to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.