N1bn Ransom: Families Of Abducted Oyo Corps Members Beg Ladoja For Help
The desperate search for help has taken the families of 20 abducted prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to the doorstep of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, following a reported N1bn ransom demand.
The parents visited Ladoja at his private residence in Bodija, Ibadan, on Saturday, pleading for his intervention to secure their children’s safe return.
They were accompanied by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, and the Aseyin of Iseyinland, Oba Sefiu Adeyeri.
The families said the kidnappers had demanded N50m for each of the victims and issued a 24-hour deadline to raise the money.
According to them, the abductors had been calling through the mobile phones of the kidnapped graduates and threatening their lives if the ransom was not paid.
Speaking on behalf of the affected families, Alhaja Akande and Oyebola Akande appealed for urgent assistance, saying they had no means of raising such a huge sum.
The victims were abducted on Thursday while travelling from Ibadan to their respective NYSC orientation camps. Gunmen reportedly attacked the two buses conveying them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State.
Responding to the families’ appeal, Ladoja assured them that efforts were being made to rescue the victims unharmed. He said the police were working round the clock and promised to share relevant information with the families.
Abimbola disclosed that he had been in contact with the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, who had assured him that the victims would be rescued safely.
Bosso later said security operatives had deployed drones to locate a suspected camp where the victims were being held. However, the operation was reportedly delayed by intelligence that improvised explosive devices had been planted around the location.
In a further move to strengthen the rescue operation, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Shehu Nadada, to Imo State to coordinate efforts to locate and rescue the abducted graduates.
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