Abductors of prospective corps members from Akwa Ibom, who were on their way to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Zamfara State, have recently demanded a fresh ransom of N10 million each from the victims’ parents for their release.
This follows their abduction from Akwa Ibom State on August 17, 2023, while en route to the orientation camp in Sokoto State.
News About Nigeria has gathered that the kidnappers contacted the victims’ parents on Monday, demanding the sum of N10 million from each family.
It was also gathered that over N30.8 million had been collectively paid by the victims’ parents to the abductors.
Furthermore, one of the victim’s family members, Mr Mfon Friday, disclosed during an interactive session with Vanguard Newspaper that a total of N30.8 million ransom had been paid to the abductors so far.
According to Friday, the breakdown of the payments made to the abductors revealed that N13 million was initially paid, and towards the end of October, an additional sum of N17 million was paid.
He said, “Remember, the first ransom the parents paid was over N13 million, and it was paid collectively. But this time, they want the parents to pay N10 million each. Before the end of October, N17 million was paid, making it about N30.8 million paid so far, yet they are not free.”
Despite all payments made, Friday mentioned that, up until this moment, the prospective corps members and the driver are still being held hostage by their abductors.
Also, Friday revealed that the victims have now spent over 100 days in the Zamfara Bush since their kidnapping, disclosing that, since the incident, the captors have only released one of the girls.
He also disclosed that the abductors had threatened to leave the victims to die if the parents did not pay the ransom at the said time.
However, the troubled parents, who lamented over the impending hardship in the country, called on the Federal and State Governments to do something to save the lives of the young graduates.
