Gunmen kidnap 5 NYSC members, demand N100m ransom in Rivers State

On 8 June, unknown gunmen abducted five serving members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, at Omademe in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. On 9 June, the kidnappers made a phone call demanding N100 million ransom to free their victims.

One source reported the abductors saying they were not ready to negotiate the ransom with the parents of the Corps members, NYSC authorities or the Ikwerre Local Government Council, but only with the Federal Government or State governments.
The Corps members, comprising four females and one male, were reportedly seized by the gunmen on their way from Omademe community, where they had gone to inspect a library project they donated to a school, as part of their contribution to the development of the community. Reports say they were riding in a car belonging to one of them when the gunmen struck at about 7.30 pm.
The Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr Suleiman Abba, said several police teams had been deployed in the areas around where the incident occurred and that the police was working intensively towards rescuing the victims.
Also reacting to the developments, Mr Blessing Wikina, Chief Press Secretary to Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, dismissed the kidnappers’ demand for ransom. He said they were in the wrong environment “because the Amaechi administration does not negotiate with kidnappers”. He reportedly also assured “Rivers people and parents of the Corps members that their children will be released unhurt and very soon”.
Rivers State is part of the oil-rich Niger Delta where ransom kidnapping has been a significant criminal phenomenon since 2005. Kidnappers initially targetted expatriate oil and gas industry workers, but have since turned to any citizens they consider vulnerable and having a “good hostage value”.
This is not the first time Corps members are being kidnapped in the State. Notably, on 16 September 2010, five Corps members were kidnapped from their hostel in Unuogha Community Secondary School, Omuma Local Government Area. One of them was released a week later, but the other four – all female – were held captive in a forest hideout in Abia State until they were eventually freed by security forces on 4 October. Reports say the ladies may have been sexually abused during their 20 days in captivity, but this was never officially confirmed by NYSC authorities.
On their release, they were taken to Abuja for medical attention, on the orders of NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga. The State Co-ordinator of the NYSC in Rivers State, Mrs. Esther Chimele-Wogbo also said they were being re-posted to their states of origin “to enable them overcome the trauma of being kidnapped” and so that they can ”put the ugly incident behind them”. However, it is not known whether they were paid any money as compensation for their ordeal and to facilitate their rehabilitation.
This latest incident, coming barely a month after 10 NYSC members were killed in post-election violence in Bauchi State will renew the debate as to whether the NYSC scheme should be continued under present arrangements, modified with greater attention to the security of Corps members or scrapped entirely, in view of the risks to the innocent youths in virtually every part of the country. www.mannamart.com