On Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day, while flags waved and speeches flew, a different story was unfolding on the Owerri-Onitsha road in Imo State. Early Thursday morning, armed gunmen stopped at least two commercial buses near Umunoha and took the passengers into the bush. Among those abducted were no fewer than 20 NYSC members who had left Samonda in Ibadan the day before on Uko Akwa Ibom Motors buses, heading for orientation camps in the South-East and South-South.
Videos that later went viral showed the abandoned white buses still loaded with luggage, crowds gathering on the highway, and distraught relatives at the motor park in Ibadan. One mother, voice breaking, told how her daughter’s last message in the family WhatsApp group simply read “kidnapper” before the phone went dead. Police in Imo have confirmed the attack and say security operatives are combing the area for the victims. No ransom demand has been made public yet, and the exact total number of people taken remains unclear.
It is another grim reminder that for many young Nigerians, the road to national service can still turn into a nightmare on the country’s most symbolic day.
