IBADAN — Armed bandits holding 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha highway have issued a strict 24-hour ultimatum to their families, demanding a cumulative ransom of $\text{N}1\text{ billion}$ ($\text{N}50\text{ million}$ per victim) or face the execution of the hostages.
The panic-stricken parents disclosed the grim development on Saturday, October 3, 2026, during an emergency visit to the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, to beg for urgent royal and state intervention.
Narrating their ordeal, representatives of the families revealed that the abductors initiated direct phone calls on Friday, threatening to kill the prospective corps members—who were traveling from Oyo State to their respective orientation camps in the South-East—unless the total sum is delivered within the stipulated deadline.
Pleading with government authorities and security chiefs to prevent a tragedy, the parents stressed that as low-income earners and petty traders, raising $\text{N}50\text{ million}$ per head remains an impossible feat.
Responding to the distressed families, Oba Ladoja assured them that high-level security coordination is underway, confirming that the Oyo State Police Command has established joint tactical tracking alongside the Imo State Command to ensure the victims are located and rescued unharmed.
Meanwhile, police authorities in Imo State confirmed that drone surveillance has successfully located the suspected camp of the kidnappers in a forested border corridor, though tactical forces are exercising extreme operational caution due to intelligence indicating that the surrounding perimeter has been mined with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
