The Students’ Union Government of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has called on security authorities to provide clear and verifiable information on the reported rescue of corps members abducted in Kogi State.
The union made the demand in a statement issued on Monday following conflicting accounts about the fate of the National Youth Service Corps members, raising concerns among their families and colleagues.
The Kogi State Police Command had earlier announced that 11 victims were rescued after armed men abducted passengers along the Aloma–Egane Expressway in Ofu Local Government Area of the state.
However, relatives of some of the victims have disputed the claim, insisting that their loved ones remain in captivity.
The FUNAAB SUG said while it appreciated efforts by security agencies to rescue the victims, authorities must establish exactly who had been released and who remained missing.
The statement read in part, “If the 11 victims reported as rescued have indeed been safely released, we need clear confirmation. We need to see them. We need to know their names, their actual number, and receive verifiable evidence of their safe return.”
The union also urged the relevant authorities and media organisations to verify the status of every abducted corps member and provide accurate information to their families.
“We will not stop asking questions. We will not stop amplifying the voices of the affected families. And we will not allow conflicting information to make the situation disappear,” the union said.
One of the affected corps members was identified as Adedolapo, a FUNAAB graduate of the College of Animal Resources Management and Animal Production.
The union further referenced reports that kidnappers had allegedly demanded N20m for each victim still in captivity, according to relatives.
Earlier, the sister of another abducted corps member, identified as Chidinma, had appealed to the Federal Government and security agencies to intensify efforts to secure the victims’ release.
She alleged that her sister and other corps members were still being held in the forest after their vehicle was attacked while travelling from Bayelsa State towards Abuja.
According to her, the corps members had completed their three-week orientation camp in Bayelsa and were travelling to their respective places of primary assignment when the incident occurred.
“My sister was taken away on Wednesday and other corps members. They are not doing anything. They keep telling us that they are on it,” she said.
Chidinma added, “Those children are in the forest suffering, the kidnappers kept asking for what we cannot afford. Government should take this matter up because those children are still government property.”
She also disputed reports that some of the victims had been rescued, saying her sister remained missing.
“I heard some bloggers said they rescued some. They did not rescue anybody. My sister will not go like that, we just lost our mum few months back, and now my sister. Nigerians should come to our rescue,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Police Command maintained that 11 victims had been rescued.
The command said the victims were abducted last Wednesday after armed men emerged from the bush near Ogene Zaria, around the Ogene Zaria/Onicha-Igo Junction, and blocked two buses travelling in opposite directions.
According to the police, some passengers escaped into the surrounding bush while others were taken captive.
The command’s spokesperson, Salisu Oyiza Afusat, said the Divisional Police Officer in Ofu led a joint security team to the area after receiving a distress call.
Two abandoned vehicles, identified as a Peace Mass Transit white Hummer bus and a yellow 18-seater bus, were recovered before the security personnel began a coordinated search operation.
Afusat said the operation resulted in the rescue of 11 victims, including the drivers of the two buses.
She added that preliminary debriefing showed that most of those rescued were NYSC members travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja.
“The rescued victims were debriefed and, after necessary procedures, allowed to continue their journey,” she said.
The police spokesperson added that the search operation was still ongoing in the surrounding forest to locate any remaining victims and apprehend the kidnappers.
The command assured residents that security and intelligence resources were being deployed to secure the area and facilitate the safe recovery of anyone still in captivity.
