By Samuel Ike, Abuja

A prospective member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who was abducted in Imo State, has recounted the harrowing experience she and other victims endured in captivity, revealing that their captors fed them dry garri mixed with muddy water while subjecting them to threats and physical abuse. The survivor, who spoke in an interview with the BBC, said the victims were held in a forest under harsh conditions, with little food and no choice but to consume whatever was provided to stay alive.

She disclosed that the kidnappers monitored telephone conversations between the captives and their families, beating those whose discussions angered them. According to her, the abductors used guns, wooden objects and their bare hands to assault victims, particularly male captives. She explained that the victims were sometimes allowed to contact relatives to discuss their release, but any conversation the kidnappers considered unacceptable could attract severe punishment.

Recounting how the incident occurred, the survivor said their bus departed at about 9 a.m. and made several stops during the journey. She explained that the driver eventually stopped at a location considered unsafe for further travel, advising passengers to rest before continuing their journey. She said she contacted her family to inform them that they would spend the night at a public place, but later woke up in the hands of the abductors without knowing how they had been taken into the forest.

Describing their living conditions, the victim said the captives survived on dry garri mixed with extremely dirty water. She said the food and water were so unfit for consumption that she would not wish such conditions on anyone, but the victims had no alternative. Beyond the physical hardship, she recalled being overwhelmed by fear and disbelief, struggling to comprehend how an ordinary journey to an NYSC orientation camp had turned into a terrifying fight for survival.

The survivor credited security personnel, including operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), with rescuing the abducted passengers. She said the experience left her emotionally shaken, as she had struggled to believe that the ordeal was happening to her. Her account has drawn attention to the vulnerability of prospective corps members travelling long distances to orientation camps and the dangers posed by kidnapping along major highways.

The 20 prospective corps members and another passenger were abducted on October 1, 2026, when gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Imo State. The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. They regained their freedom on October 7 following a coordinated security operation and were taken to a DSS medical facility in Owerri for medical attention.