One of the prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members rescued in Imo State has recounted how kidnappers allegedly beat captives and forced them to survive on dry garri and dirty water in a forest. Speaking in an interview with the BBC, the survivor described the experience as terrifying and said she feared she might not make it out alive.
The woman was among 20 prospective corps members and another passenger abducted on October 1, 2026, while travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. She said the kidnappers monitored phone calls to relatives and assaulted captives over conversations they disliked. According to her account, food and clean drinking water were scarce, leaving the victims to consume dry garri and muddy water to survive.
The survivor credited security personnel, including operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), with rescuing the captives. The victims regained their freedom on October 7 following a coordinated security operation after gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Imo State. They were subsequently taken to a DSS medical facility in Owerri for treatment.
