Gunmen have kidnapped 15 corps members returning from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Permanent Orientation Camp in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Wednesday.
One of the relatives of the kidnapped corps members who spoke with FIJ on Thursday said that the youths were abducted along the Ofu/Itobe–Onicha-Igo axis in Ofu LGA, Kogi State, on their way to Abuja, reports News Express.
The source said that his brother, Ayodele David, and 14 other corps members were kidnapped from a Peace Mass Transit bus and another bus marked ‘564’. He said they were alerted to the incident by Adeji Joshua, a police officer from the Kogi State Police Command.
“According to a police officer who contacted us later that night, the incident occurred around Ofu Local Government Area, Kogi State, along the Ofu/Itobe–Onicha-Igo axis. The officer said he obtained our next-of-kin contact from the passengers’ manifest left behind,” he told FIJ.
“The victims were travelling in vehicles including a Peace Mass Transit bus and a yellow Toyota bus marked 564. Photos of the vehicles are attached for identification.
“My brother is among the affected corps members, and our family is deeply worried about his safety, along with that of the other young Nigerians who have been taken.”
Joshua confirmed the incident when FIJ called on Thursday afternoon.
The police officer said the driver of the bus was left behind by the abductors but was badly injured. He said he described the identity of the abductors as a mix of people who spoke Fulfulde, Hausa and English.
He explained that there were two buses on the scene and the passengers of the other bus were allowed to go because most of them had babies. He stated that only four people were taken from the vehicle.
“From the explanation of the driver, who was badly injured, fifteen passengers were kidnapped even though 16 people were listed on the manifest. For the last corps member, the driver told her the bus was full and said he could not add one more passenger, so he had to transfer her to another vehicle,” Joshua told FIJ.
“But the rest of them in that bus, which is Peace Mass number 2826, were kidnapped. Meanwhile, the driver was badly injured, and we had to rush him to the hospital immediately. But as of this morning, he is better now.
“On the identity of the kidnappers, we are hearing that they spoke Fulfulde, Hausa and English. We can’t really identify them yet. But we decided to contact their parents so we can inform them of the incident.”
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A video clip from the scene of the incident shows that the abductors shot at the victims before taking them.
For a reaction to the abduction of the corps members, FIJ called Caroline Embu, NYSC’s Director of Information and Public Relations, who first asked if our reporter had called Samuel Amaramiro Pepple, the scheme’s Bayelsa State coordinator. When our reporter said they needed his contact details, she said, “Let me find out.”
She asked, “What do you need to know?” When our reporter told her and asked when to call her back, she repeated, “Let me find out.”
FIJ called Pepple via a phone number listed as his on Google, but it was busy all three times our reporter dialled it.
The kidnapped corps members were members of the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream II, which just concluded camp exercises on Wednesday.
FIJ called Peace Mass Transit via the emergency and customer service numbers published on their website, but none of them was reachable.
Source:Newsorient
