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Twenty graduates who were recently kidnapped while travelling for the National Youth Service Corps orientation exercise have been given an opportunity to choose their preferred states for national service in the South-West.
The decision followed their release from captivity, allowing the affected prospective corps members to consider alternative deployment locations rather than return to their original assignments.
The graduates were among those abducted on October 1 along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State. Their disappearance triggered concern among relatives and renewed attention to the risks faced by young Nigerians travelling to NYSC orientation camps.
According to accounts from the victims’ families, efforts to secure their freedom involved raising substantial sums of money, with each family reportedly contributing ₦6m. The relatives said financial assistance from members of the public helped them meet the demands.
The police, however, attributed the victims’ rescue to security operations, creating differing accounts of how the ordeal ended. The incident has also highlighted the need for improved security arrangements for prospective corps members as they travel to their designated orientation camps.
