Akwa Ibom State graduates kidnapped last year in Zamfara State, during a trip to commence their National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, duty in Sokoto State, have appealed to both Federal and their state governments to provide them employment to assist their gradual healing from the trauma.
Eight of the corps members who left Uyo, Akwa Ibom capital, heading to Sokoto NYSC Orientation Camp were abducted August 17, of last year along with their bus driver in an ambush on the Zamfara highway.
The victims who endured untold torture in the kidnappers’ den were freed in batches with Solomon Daniel being last to be released after being held for a year.
Sharing their experiences in Uyo, yesterday, some of the victims complained of suffering severe health challenges and post-traumatic pains since passing through the harrowing experience.
Solomon Daniel said he was held longer than the rest after the abductors separated him from his colleagues for refusing to yield to payment of ransom as his widow’s mother could not afford the demanded ransom.
Held August 17, 2023, and freed August 22, 2024, Daniel recounted, “I went through a lot. I chewed leaves to survive and drank extremely dirty water.
“I was tortured daily from morning till evening. I could not defecate or urinate for three months. I thought I was going to die.”
Considered the ‘most stubborn’ by the abductors, Daniel narrated he was transported on a motorcycle from Zamfara to Kaduna State through bush paths and was for several months guarded by over 10 armed men before he got rescued by security operatives.
Victoria Bassey, another of the victims said: “I never believed I would survive such terrible conditions. Even during our menstrual periods, we couldn’t bath. We drank flood water to stay alive.”
Etim Bassey, another victim said the kidnappers posed as uniformed military men manning a supposed check point where they were abducted.
“Our bus was intercepted at a bad spot in Zamfara we mistook for a checkpoint. The area was blocked with logs of wood and manned by armed men in military uniforms, who ordered us into the forest,” he stated.
In their gratitude to stakeholders whose effort made their rescue possible, the former corps members appealed for gainful employment and other forms of assistance the state and federal governments could accord them to help heal.
They thanked President Bola Tinubu, Director-General of NYSC, Gen Yusha’u Ahmed, Governor Umo Eno of the state, security operatives, and other well-meaning Nigerians for role in securing their freedom.
Matthew Koffi Okono, Founder and President, Open Forum Care for Humanity Foundation, the NGO which mobilised them to share their experiences lent voice to their call for job opportunities, urging the government to assist in easing their ‘post-traumatic experience.’
Okono then advocated reforms of the NYSC scheme, stating, “The Federal Government should look into making the NYSC scheme more pro-development and safer, to add more value to nation-building.”