The mother of one of the freed National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway has revealed that she paid N6 million ransom to secure her son’s release.
In an interview with News Central Television reported by VANGUARD on Thursday, October 8, 2026, the mother, whose name was not disclosed, said the kidnappers initially demanded N50 million for each victim before later agreeing to accept N6 million for her son.
She said the NYSC members were abducted on October 1 after gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway.
The woman said the kidnappers later contacted the victims’ families and asked them to send representatives to meet them in Ibadan as part of the arrangements for the ransom payment. She said her husband and her son’s elder brother attended the meeting and later delivered the ransom.
She said her son was released after the payment was made and that his brother later called to confirm that the abductors had handed him over. The woman also said the incident left her traumatised and unable to sleep throughout the period her son was in captivity.
In the mother’s words: “Initially, they asked us to pay N50 million per person. We kept begging them to accept what we had. Three days ago, they said we should pay N15 million, but we told them that all we had was N5.5 million. They insisted on N6 million, so that was what we paid.”
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