Abducted NYSC prospective corps member recounts forest ordeal

A prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member abducted in Imo State has recounted how kidnappers beat and threatened captives, forcing them to survive on dry garri and muddy water during six days in captivity. The victim said the abductors monitored phone calls to relatives and physically punished victims whenever their families said anything that displeased them.

The victim, who spoke in an interview with the BBC, was among 20 prospective corps members and another passenger abducted by gunmen along the Owerri-Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Imo State on October 1, 2026.

The victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when the attack occurred.

Recounting the abuse they suffered, the victim said the kidnappers allowed them to call their families but monitored the conversations and used violence to punish anyone whose relatives made comments they considered unacceptable.

“We are given a phone to call our family, and if any family say anything they don’t want to hear or any rubbish that would make them angry, we will be beaten,” she said.

She added that the abductors used guns, pieces of wood and their bare hands to assault the captives, with the male victims particularly subjected to beatings.

The prospective corps member also described the poor living conditions in the forest, saying the abductors provided little food and unsafe drinking water.

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“What we are eating there is just garri. Like Igbo garri, dry garri with mud water. Very dirty water,” she said.

“I can’t even give my enemy that water. We don’t have a choice, we have to take it for survival.”

According to her account, the ordeal began after the bus conveying the passengers departed at about 9am and made several stops during the journey.

She said the driver eventually stopped at a location considered dangerous for onward travel, and passengers were advised to rest before continuing their journey.

The victim explained that she contacted her family to inform them that they would spend the night at a public place before going to sleep.

However, she said she later woke up in the hands of the kidnappers and could not explain how she and the other passengers had been taken into the forest.

“When I woke up, that was when the incident happened. I don’t know how we got to the forest where we were kept for some time,” she said.

The captives were subsequently moved further into the forest, where they endured food shortages, unsafe water and threats from their abductors.

Beyond the physical hardship, the victim said the experience left her confused and struggling to comprehend what was happening.

“I can’t explain how I felt. I can’t even cry, I was just looking, I was lost. I don’t know what to do,” she said.

“It felt like it was a movie. I don’t believe that this is happening to me.”

She added that she had found it difficult to believe she would survive the ordeal, describing the experience as something that felt unreal.

The victim credited security personnel, including officials of the Department of State Services (DSS), with securing their release.

“The government, the DSS staff, we were rescued by them,” she said.

The 21 victims regained their freedom on October 7 following a coordinated security operation involving security agencies.

After their release, they were taken to a DSS medical facility in Owerri for medical attention.

The abduction has renewed concerns over the safety of travellers on highways in parts of the South-East, particularly young Nigerians travelling long distances to begin their national service.