The 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members rescued from their abductors on Wednesday have arrived in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The victims are currently at the Department of State Services headquarters in Aleshinloye, Ibadan South-West Local Government Area, where they are undergoing further procedures.
It revealed that only representatives of the victims’ parents were allowed into the DSS premises, while other relatives and sympathisers remained outside.
The 20 were among 30 prospective corps members travelling in two buses from Oyo State to orientation camps in Abia State when they were abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State. The remaining 10 escaped into the bush.
They regained their freedom seven days after their abduction following pressure from security agencies.
The abductors had initially demanded N50m for each victim, totalling N1bn, before reportedly reducing the ransom to N5m per person, amounting to N100m.
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, had confirmed the ransom demands.
Meanwhile, the parents of the abducted prospective corps members had earlier sought the intervention of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, alongside the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, and the Aseyin of Iseyinland, Oba Sefiu Adeyeri.
Following their release, Ladoja confirmed that the victims had regained their freedom.
“The kidnapped graduates have been released. The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, confirmed this in a telephone conversation at about 5.00pm,” the Olubadan said in a statement issued by his media aide, Adeola Oloko.