A mother of one of the 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State, Alirat Wahab, has disclosed that the family borrowed money and received contributions from relatives and other individuals to raise N6million allegedly demanded by the kidnappers for her son’s release.
Penpushing reports that Wahab made this known during an interview with a media outlet after release of the victims, recalling that the kidnappers initially demanded N50million for each of the abducted prospective corps members before reducing the amount after the parents pleaded with them.
“They first said N50m per child. We pleaded because each child was given the phone for about two minutes, and then they would seize the phone back. They said N50m, are we fighting a war with them? In their main war, it’s for each victim’, she said
Penpushing further reports that the woman said the abductors later agreed to take N5million but subsequently increased the demand to N15millio, adding that the family continued negotiating with the kidnappers until they eventually settled on N6million.
“As we kept pleading, they initially agreed to N5million, but later refused. They started… we became scared. Later on, around three days ago, they said they would collect N15million from us. We started pleading again, saying we only had N5.5million at the time, but they insisted on N6million’, she said.
Penpushing also reports that Wahab said the families of the victims were subsequently summoned to Ibadan, Oyo State, where they were instructed to send representatives to Imo State with the money.
The mother added that the parents were informed that about 20 children were being held and that three representatives were to be sent for each child.
“When they called us that all the parents of the children in the bush… they said about 20 children were in the bush. They told us to meet them in Ibadan, and three representatives for each child should go,” she said.
Penpushing reports that she explained that, her husband and the victim’s brother were among those who travelled to Imo State, adding that the representatives were instructed not to transfer the ransom through an account but to take the money to Imo State and convert it to dollars.
“When they went, their daddy went, his brother went. When they got there, they discussed that we should not send the money through an account. By the time they got to Imo State, they should go and convert it to dollars. When they arrived, they converted it to dollars’,she said.
Penpushing further reports that the mother, explained how her family eventually raised the N6million, stressing that relatives, friends and other individuals contributed different amounts, while the family also borrowed money to complete the ransom.
“It was other people that helped us so our money could complete. We borrowed money, and others helped us. Some gave N20,000, some N50,000, some gave what they had. We went to borrow more money, and that was how the total money was completed to N6million’, she said.
Penpushing also reports that the husband in his own narration said the parents of the abducted prospective corps members pooled their resources to meet the kidnappers’ demands, explaining that the family contributed N6million, while some of the other parents contributed N5million.
“The parents gathered that money together. For us parents, our portion was N6million, while others paid N5million. Our money was more than the others, which we gathered together,” he said.
Penpuhing reports that the father said the parents met at Adamasingba in Ibadan to coordinate the ransom payment, adding that they also made additional contributions to fund the journey of representatives to Imo State, with each person contributing N100,000.
The family’s account, however, contradicts the position of the Imo State Government, which said no ransom was paid for the release of the victims, as the father declared that the government lied, insisting that, the parents gathered that money together.
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