MOTHER DETAILS ORDEAL OF RAISING N6M RANSOM FOR ABDUCTED CORPS MEMBER

Parent of freed National Youth Service Corps member recounts harrowing negotiations, family contributions, and logistical hurdles involved in securing her son's release from kidnappers

The mother of one of the recently freed National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members has disputed official narratives regarding her son's liberation, revealing that her family paid a six million naira ransom to secure his freedom.  

Speaking in a media interview, Alirat Wahab detailed the intense psychological pressure and financial strain her household endured after her son was abducted alongside other graduates along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway while traveling to their orientation camp.

According to the grieving parent, the captors initially made astronomical demands of fifty million naira per individual before subsequent negotiations lowered the figure.  

"Initially, they asked us to pay N50 million per head," she stated, noting that frantic family pleas and collective appeals eventually compelled the abductors to reduce the demand to fifteen million naira and later to six million naira.  

To raise the final sum, relatives and well-wishers pooled resources, relying on personal savings and contributions to meet the captors' stipulations.

The mother explained that the logistical execution of the payment required family representatives, including her husband and older son, to travel for a preliminary meeting in Ibadan before being instructed to convey the cash to Imo State, where it was converted into foreign currency as demanded.  

The latest revelations contrast with statements previously issued by security forces and state authorities attributing the release of all twenty captive graduates to coordinated tactical rescue operations.  

While expressing profound relief over her son's reunion and subsequent medical evaluation, the disclosures have reignited public discussions concerning the ongoing vulnerability of highway travelers and the persistent underground economy of ransom payments across the country.