Imo Abduction: ‘We Ate Garri With Muddy Water’ – Rescued NYSC Member Recounts Ordeal

A prospective member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has recounted the frightening experience of being abducted and held in a forest in Imo State, where she and other victims allegedly survived on dry garri and dirty water.

The young woman, who spoke in an interview with the BBC, described the physical hardship and emotional distress she experienced during captivity after gunmen intercepted vehicles conveying prospective corps members to their orientation camps.

According to her account, the victims were threatened, beaten and forced to drink water contaminated with mud because they had no other means of survival.

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

She added that the conditions were so unbearable that she would not wish the same experience on anyone.

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

Her account has drawn attention to the conditions the victims endured during the incident, which left families worried about the safety of their children travelling to begin their national service year.

Victim Recounts How Abduction Happened

Recounting the circumstances surrounding the incident, the woman said the journey began normally before the passengers stopped at a location where they were advised to rest because the next stretch of the road was considered dangerous.

She explained that the vehicle had departed at about 9 a.m. and made several stops along the way.

Before going to sleep, she contacted her family to inform them that they would spend the night at a public place before continuing their journey.

However, she said she later woke up to find herself in the hands of kidnappers, without understanding 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 victim described the confusion and disbelief she experienced after realising that she had been abducted.

“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 recounted.

She said the situation initially felt unreal, as though she were watching events unfold in a film rather than experiencing them herself.

The experience, she explained, left her struggling to understand what had happened and whether she would make it out alive.

Kidnappers Allegedly Beat and Threatened Victims

The rescued woman also described how the abductors allegedly monitored telephone conversations between captives and their families.

According to her, victims were allowed to speak with relatives using phones provided by the kidnappers. However, the conversations were closely monitored, and anyone whose family said something the captors disliked could be punished.

“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 alleged that the captors used guns, wooden objects and their hands to assault victims, with male captives reportedly subjected to frequent physical violence.

Her account provides further details of the treatment the victims said they experienced while being held in the forest.

The ordeal also placed families under pressure as they tried to establish contact with their children and secure their release.

How the Prospective Corps Members Were Abducted

The incident occurred on October 1, 2026, when gunmen attacked two buses travelling along the Owerri-Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Imo State.

The vehicles were conveying 20 prospective NYSC members and another passenger from Ibadan, Oyo State, towards their respective orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The abduction triggered an intensive search and rescue operation involving security agencies.

On October 4, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, said security operatives had located the kidnappers’ camp but faced difficulties advancing because intelligence indicated that improvised explosive devices had been planted around the location.

Police said drone surveillance helped operatives identify the area where the victims were being held. Additional personnel and operational equipment were deployed as efforts continued to reach the captives safely.

The incident also generated anxiety among the victims’ families, some of whom appealed to the authorities for urgent assistance.

Victims Regain Freedom After Seven Days

The abducted prospective corps members regained their freedom on October 7 following a coordinated operation involving security agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS), police and military personnel.

They were subsequently taken for medical attention before being reunited with their families.

According to reports, the victims returned to Ibadan and were handed over to their relatives at the DSS headquarters in Oyo State on October 8.

Another rescued victim, Akande Morenikeji, described the seven days in captivity as physically and mentally draining.

She also said female captives were not sexually harassed during their time in captivity, although male victims faced restrictions and other forms of hardship.

The circumstances surrounding the victims’ release also raised questions about ransom payments. The International Centre for Investigative Reporting reported that a family of one of the abducted prospective corps members said it paid ₦6 million to secure the release of its child. The police commissioner, however, said he was unaware of a ransom payment and attributed the victims’ freedom to the security operation.

The conflicting accounts have left questions about the precise circumstances of the release and whether ransom was paid in individual cases.

Renewed Concerns Over Road Safety

The abduction has renewed concerns about the safety of travellers using highways in parts of south-eastern Nigeria, particularly those travelling long distances for education, employment and national service.

For prospective corps members, travelling to orientation camps is an important stage in the transition from graduation to national service. Incidents such as this can expose young people and their families to significant security risks.

The rescued victim’s account highlights the physical deprivation and psychological distress that kidnapping victims may endure, even after they regain their freedom.

Although the victims have been reunited with their families, the incident has left behind difficult memories and renewed calls for improved security along major roads.

Authorities have yet to publicly establish all the circumstances surrounding the attack and identify those responsible in the reports cited.

For the rescued prospective corps members, however, the immediate ordeal of captivity has ended. Their accounts offer a clearer picture of the hardship they endured while awaiting rescue.

Sources: Vanguard, TheCable, Channels Television and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).