Alirat Wahab, mother of one of the freed members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha expressway, has revealed that the sum of N6 million was paid to secure the release of her son.
She made the disclosure in an interview with News Central Television on Wednesday, where she said the abductors initially demanded N50 million for each victim before eventually settling for N6 million for her son.
“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.
“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.”
Asked how they paid the ransom, she said the abductors asked the victims’ parents to send three representatives to meet with them in Ibadan.
“They called all the parents of all the victims. Twenty of them are in the bush. They then asked us to send three persons each to meet with them in Ibadan. My husband and my son’s elder brother went,” she added.
“When they got to the meeting place, they asked them to send the money to an account and that when they got to Imo state, they should change the money into dollars.”
Wahab said her elder son was among those who met with the abductors and took the ransom to them.
“It is not rumours. They have all been released and sent to us. His brother is among the people who went to meet with the abductors three days ago. They left with the ransom,” she said.
“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 trauma of her son’s abduction left her unable to sleep throughout the period he was in 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.
Recall that the prospective NYSC members were abducted in the early hours of October 1 after gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses carrying passengers from Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, before corralling them into the forest.
According to a viral video circulated on X, the victims were travelling to Akwa Ibom and Abia states in buses branded with the Abia state government logo when the attackers intercepted the vehicles and robbed the passengers.
Confirming the abduction, Henry Okoye, police spokesperson in Imo State, said the incident occurred at about 6:30am, adding that 10 of the victims were rescued immediately.
Okoye said security operatives subsequently commenced search-and-rescue operations backed by intelligence to track the suspects and rescue the remaining victims.
On Saturday, the abductors contacted parents of the corps members, handing them 24 hours to pay N1 billion ransom for their children’s release.
However, they later reduced the ransom to N5 million per head, totalling N100 million for all the victims.
Reacting, Tunji Disu, inspector-general of police (IGP), deployed Shehu Nadada, deputy inspector-general of police (DIG) in charge of operations, to coordinate efforts to rescue the corps members.
Anietie Iniedu, spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), said Nadada had arrived in Imo with two commissioners of police and conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the operation.
He said the DIG reviewed the deployment of personnel and operational assets and issued directives to strengthen the coordinated response.
Announcing the release of the victims in a statement on Wednesday, the force spokesperson said the operation that led to their rescue was carried out by a joint team of operatives from the Department of State Services (DSS), military and police.
“The victims were rescued on 7th October 2026 at Amakohia Ubi Village, Imo State, following sustained search-and-rescue operations. They have since been taken for medical assessment and necessary care,” the statement reads.
