*What my daughter said before her phone went off – Victim’s mother
By Ime Silas
Tragedy marred Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day celebration as gunmen abducted 19 prospective National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members along the Anambra-Imo border while they were travelling to their orientation camps.
The victims, mostly graduates of the University of Ibadan and the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, were travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Akwa Ibom and Abia States when they were attacked on Thursday, October 1.
According to reports, the corps members were travelling in commercial buses belonging to UKO AKWA IBOM MOTORS NIG LTD, as seen in a viral video that captured one of the buses reportedly used by the abducted corps members.
It was gathered that the gunmen ambushed the buses at the border between Anambra and Imo States, forcing passengers to scamper for safety. Eleven passengers and drivers were said to have fled the scene, while the 19 prospective corps members were whisked away by the gunmen into the bush.
The incident has thrown families of the victims into panic and agony, as many of them have not heard from their children since the abduction.
One of the mothers, identified as Alimot Akande, broke down in tears in a viral video, begging in Yoruba language for the release of her daughter. According to the grieving mother, her daughter’s last message before her phone went off was simply “kidnappers.”
The single word message, sent moments before she went silent, has become a chilling symbol of the insecurity that has continued to plague the country’s highways.
The abduction, which occurred on a day Nigerians were celebrating 66 years of nationhood, has sparked outrage across the country, with many Nigerians questioning the safety of young graduates being posted to different parts of the country for national service.
Many Nigerians who reacted to the incident on social media called on the Federal Government to live up to its constitutional responsibility of securing the lives of young graduates who were on their way to a national assignment.
Some also called for the immediate scrapping or suspension of the NYSC scheme until the government shows sufficient commitment to providing adequate security for the citizenry.
“How can we be celebrating independence when our children cannot travel safely within their own country to serve their fatherland? This is heartbreaking,” a concerned Nigerian wrote online.
Others demanded that the NYSC management and security agencies deploy all resources to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted corps members and to secure the nation’s highways, especially during orientation camp mobilisation periods when thousands of young graduates are on the roads.
As at the time of filing this report, neither the NYSC management nor the Anambra State Police Command and Imo State Police Command have issued an official statement on the abduction and on efforts being made to rescue the victims.
Families of the abducted corps members have appealed to the Federal Government, the NYSC Director-General, and security agencies to act swiftly to secure the release of their children unharmed.
It must be noted that the abduction of prospective corps members is not new in Nigeria. In recent years, several corps members have been kidnapped along major highways while travelling to orientation camps, raising concerns about the safety of the scheme.
Pundits have called for a review of the posting and transportation arrangement for corps members, including the provision of security escorts, designated safe routes and real-time tracking of buses conveying them to orientation camps.
The fate of the 19 prospective corps members remains unknown, while their parents and loved ones wait anxiously for good news on a day that was meant to be a celebration of Nigeria’s independence and unity.
