The families of the prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted in Imo State have publicly disputed claims by the Imo State Government that no ransom was paid for their release, insisting that parents pooled millions of Naira to secure their children's freedom.

The Imo State Police Command, DSS, and State Government maintained that sustained intelligence pressure and tactical encirclement led to the release of the 20 corps members without financial exchange at Amakohia Ubi Village.

However, Wahab, the father of one of the rescued victims, strongly dismissed the government's stance.

"They lied! We the parents gathered that money together," the father declared.

Speaking on behalf of her family, Alirat Wahab detailed the harrowing negotiation process with the armed kidnappers, who initially demanded a total of ₦50 million per child before scaling down demands after persistent pleas from panicked parents.

According to Wahab, her family was forced to raise ₦6 million while other affected parents contributed ₦5 million each to meet the abductors' finalized terms.

"It was other people that helped us so our money could complete. We borrowed money, and others helped us. Some gave ₦20,000, some ₦50,000, some gave what they had," Wahab revealed.

"We went to borrow more money, and that was how the total money was completed to ₦6m."

The family further disclosed that after parents coordinated at a meeting in Adamasingba, Ibadan, representatives, including her husband and eldest son, were instructed by the kidnappers to travel down to Imo State, convert the cash sum into US Dollars, and deliver it directly to designated couriers in the bush.

The victims were reportedly handed over to the family representatives immediately after the physical cash delivery was verified, directly challenging the official narrative that security forces rescued the victims without ransom exchanges.

“We negotiated from ₦50M to ₦5M, but the k!dnappers refused, demanded ₦15M. We later settled for ₦6M and asked us to change it to dollars. So we flew the money from Ibadan to Imo, before they released him”

— Mother of one of the NYSC victim https://t.co/IKNhFyzn0s

— YabaLeftOnline (@yabaleftonline) October 8, 2026