IMO STATE ABDUCTION: Identities Of Some Abducted 15 NYSC Members Emerge
Families of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have been thrown into panic following the reported abduction of 15 graduates travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to the NYSC orientation camp in Abia State.
The victims, many of whom are graduates of the University of Ibadan and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, were reportedly travelling in buses operated by Udua King Transport Services when suspected kidnappers attacked the vehicles.
The Genius Media Nigeria reports that the incident reportedly occurred around Ihiala in Anambra State in the early hours of Thursday.
After the incident, anxious parents besieged the transport company’s office in the Samonda area of Ibadan, seeking information about their children’s whereabouts and the efforts to secure their release.
The transport company reportedly engaged four buses to convey the prospective corps members to the NYSC permanent orientation camp in Abia State.
Sources who spoke with Arise TV said two of the buses managed to escape the attackers, while the remaining two were stopped by the gunmen.
It was gathered that 11 passengers, alongside the drivers of the two affected buses, escaped from the attackers, while 15 passengers were reportedly taken into the bush.
The names listed on the transport company’s manifest as those abducted are Akande Kehinde, Olaleye Mary, Oladosu Greatness, Obafunsho Rhoda, Abdulrof Anifat, Esther Oyede, Hassan Usman, Ayomide Isa, Mary Makinde, Azeez Adejoke, Abdulrazaq Anifat, Sarah Temilolu, Adeoye Elizabeth, Eniola Samuel and Usman Temi.
A representative of Udua King Transport Services, who declined to give his name, confirmed that the incident occurred around Ihiala in the early hours of Thursday.
One of the worried parents, Mrs Alimot Akande, said her daughter, Kehinde Akande, a graduate of LAUTECH, was among those reportedly taken.
Akande explained that her daughter had boarded one of the company’s buses at Samonda, Ibadan, for the journey to Abia.
She said she had been monitoring the journey and noticed that the bus stopped in Onitsha at about 10 pm on Wednesday before proceeding towards Abia the following morning.
According to her, her daughter later sent a brief message that immediately raised alarm.
The message simply read, “kidnappers!”
Akande said the message was the last communication she received from her daughter, adding that it was sent while the vehicle was travelling between Onitsha and Abia.
