Parents of the prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) abducted in Imo State have said the money contributed by their families as ransom has been returned, although they could not confirm whether the funds were eventually paid to the kidnappers.
One of the parents, Obasanjo, and Alirat Wahab, whose son was among the abducted victims, disclosed this in separate interviews with News Central.
Alirat had earlier said her family paid N6 million to secure her son’s release after gunmen abducted 20 prospective corps members along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway on October 1.
The victims were travelling from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to Anambra State in two 18-seater buses when the attackers struck.
The kidnappers initially demanded N1 billion from the victims’ families before reducing the ransom to N5 million per person, bringing the total demand for the 20 abductees to N100 million.
On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force, Anietie Iniedu, announced that the victims had been rescued after seven days in captivity during a joint security operation involving the police, Department of State Services and military personnel.
The police said the rescue operation took place in Amakohia Ubi village, Imo State.
Speaking in a follow-up interview, Obasanjo said he could not confirm whether representatives of the families had delivered the ransom to the kidnappers.
He, however, confirmed that the money contributed by the families had been refunded.
“The money has been returned. We just want to thank Imo for a job well done,” he said.
Obasanjo explained that representatives had been selected from the affected families to handle the matter but declined to provide further details about the circumstances surrounding the refund.
“One person was chosen from my family and the other two from other families,” he said.
He added that the representatives had gone to negotiate for the release of the abducted corps members.
“They went to look for the kidnapped corps members to see whether they would be freed or not,” he said.
According to him, the kidnappers had requested that representatives be sent to deliver the ransom, but the victims were eventually released.
“The kidnappers had asked for representatives to bring the ransom. Since they could no longer hold the corps members hostage, they let them go,” he added.
When asked whether the ransom had been paid, Obasanjo said the families could not confirm the transaction.
“We don’t know,” he said.
He urged the public to move on from the incident and commended the Imo State Government for its role in the rescue.
“You know what, let’s forget the matter and just appeal to the Imo State Government. We should be grateful to them,” he said.
Alirat also confirmed that the money was returned to the representatives who had acted on behalf of the affected families.
“They returned it to those who went to represent us. Every parent has received their money back,” she said.
Neither parent disclosed who returned the money or the specific circumstances under which the refunds were made.
