Babatope Okeowo 
Five National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) members kidnapped on their way from orientation camp have been released by their abductors after spending days in the kidnappers’ den.
The Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said the victims were abandoned by their kidnappers when the men of the police force were on their trail.
However, family sources said the victims who were on their way from Enugu State, where they had undergone the mandatory orientation at the camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), were released after the payment of ransom to the kidnappers.
The corp members were kidnapped in the Ifon area of the state and their abductors demanded N15 million ransom. The brother of one of the victims, Lawal Happiness, who cried out over the development said the kidnappers had reduced the ransom to N1 million from N30 million per victim.
He said: “My name is Lawal Happiness, a brother to the corper kidnapped on her way from Enugu Camp to Akure, whose name is Adewole Paul Oluwaseun, an indigene of Akure and a graduate of the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE).
Alongside four other corp members [Oluwadara Feranmi (f), Andrew Patience (f), Oribamise Taiwo (f), and Ajayi Lekan (m). “After they were done with their NYSC orientation programme, they reported to their PPA accordingly and came home to get her stuff for proper resumption.
They embarked on this journey on July 18, 2024, and left Enugu State at 9 a.m. “We monitored her movement to Onitsha, where their bus was slightly delayed, and they later continued their journey to Akure. That was around 3 pm on July 18.
They left Onitsha around 3 p.m., got to Asaba around 5 p.m., and got to Ifon by 10:15 p.m. After that, we couldn’t get connected to them.” But the PPRO said the victims were abandoned by their abductors after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.
