The Department of State Services has arraigned five suspected kidnappers before the Imo State High Court over the alleged abduction of 24 people, including 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members.
The suspects were arraigned on Tuesday in two separate cases involving allegations of conspiracy, hostage-taking and illegal possession of firearms.
Three of the defendants, identified as Usman Aliyu, 25, also known as Chonge; Babangida Aliyu, 21; and Mohammed Ali, 23, alias Smallie Pepper, were accused of kidnapping the prospective corps members on October 1, 2026.
According to the charge sheet filed at the Oru Judicial Division of the Imo State High Court in Mgbidi, the suspects allegedly worked with other accomplices who are still at large to abduct the victims along the Owerri-Mgbidi-Onitsha Expressway.
The victims were reportedly travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when they were kidnapped. They were subsequently rescued after seven days in captivity.
In a statement on Tuesday, the DSS said the three defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking under Section 6 of the Imo State Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law No. 4 of 2009.
The agency also alleged that the defendants unlawfully possessed three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, a pistol and 81 rounds of live ammunition.
In a separate case, Aminu Haliru, 27, and Tange Ibrahim, 20, popularly known as Jijji, were arraigned over the alleged abduction of four people in the Owerri and Mgbidi areas on October 4.
The prosecution alleged that the duo, alongside other suspects still at large, demanded and received N8m for the release of the victims.
They were also accused of illegally possessing an AK-47 rifle and a pump-action gun.
The prosecution listed N1.8m as money recovered in connection with the second case.
A DSS investigator and the victims were listed as witnesses in both cases.
The allegations are yet to be determined by the court.
