The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Southwest Zone D, has expressed deep concern over reported ransom demands of up to ₦50 million for prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted while traveling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their assigned orientation camps.
The attack occurred in the early hours of Thursday, October 1, 2026, when two commercial buses carrying graduates were ambushed by suspected gunmen along the Ihiala–Owerri-Onitsha axis while en route to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bende, Abia State.
In an official statement released on Friday, October 2, 2026, NANS Southwest Zone D called for immediate, coordinated action from federal authorities, security agencies, and the NYSC Directorate to ensure the safe and unharmed release of the victims.
The statement was jointly signed by key officers of NANS Southwest Zone D: Comrade Adeyemo Josiah, Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Ojetola Babatunde Y., Zonal General Secretary and Comrade Olugbemi T. Timothy, Zonal Public Relations Officer.
The student body disclosed that kidnappers have made contact with panicked family members, demanding ransoms as high as ₦50 million for individual prospective corps members. Among those affected are recent graduates from Southwest higher institutions, including the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, and Osun State Polytechnic, Iree.
Parents gathered at transport terminals in Samonda, Ibadan where the journey began on Wednesday evening, recounted receiving brief distress messages from their children during the ambush before communication went completely dark.
”A country cannot summon its youths to serve and abandon their security in transit,” the leadership stated, urging the Federal Government and NYSC management to take responsibility for guaranteeing safe transit corridors for call-up members.
Addressing the incident, the Imo State Police Command confirmed that tactical teams, alongside Commissioner of Police Audu Garba Bosso, conducted an on-the-spot assessment at the scene.
According to police spokesperson Henry Okoye, security operatives have rescued 10 of the passengers and recovered the two buses. Joint search-and-rescue operations by tactical units and sister security agencies are ongoing in nearby forests to track down the abductors and free the remaining hostages.
NANS Zone D has urged the Federal Government to consider decentralizing or reviewing travel logistics for NYSC deployments to prevent corps members from traversing high-risk security corridors.
