NYSC member kidnapped in Edo recounts ordeal, release after ransom

An intending National Youth Service Corps member, Ibi Bemdoo Philip, has given an account of his abduction in Edo State and the days he spent in captivity before he was freed after a ransom was paid. In a Facebook post, Philip described how a routine trip to the NYSC orientation camp in Akure, Ondo State, turned into an ordeal. He said September 30, 2026, would remain a date he cannot forget. According to him, he boarded a Benue Links Nig. Ltd. bus with 14 other passengers, making 15 people including the driver. He was the only prospective corps member heading to the Akure camp; the others were travelling to Ibadan for personal business and other reasons. The journey initially went smoothly, he said. But at Ibilo, Edo State, armed kidnappers ambushed the vehicle. The driver and two passengers escaped, while the remaining 12 passengers were seized. Philip said they were taken in the direction of Okene, Kogi State, and trekked through the savannah for days. They slept on bare ground and rocks, exposed to the weather, with little food and no certainty about their fate. They were later moved to a mountain, where their captors held them. Negotiations for their release started on Friday, October 2, at about 7 p.m., he said. The captives were handed phones to call their families. Philip called his father, Chief Sunday Ibi, and Ols Sally Sewuese Ukule, who was his course representative when he studied at Benue State University, Makurdi. He told them the kidnappers were asking for ₦50 million. The demand was later lowered to ₦30 million, but negotiations ended there that night. Philip said his father, the course representative, family members, friends and others began seeking ways to raise the money. His father hardly rested as he tried to secure his son's release, while relatives held on to hope. For four days, he said, heavy rain fell, sometimes in the morning and again in the evening, leaving the captives exposed in the wilderness. On one occasion, a kidnapper collected his identity card and saw an address that was opposite B Division Police Station. The captor accused him of being a police officer and beat him. Philip said one of the other captives understood Hausa and explained that his home was merely close to the police station. As negotiations continued, the ransom demand dropped to ₦20 million and then to ₦10 million, he said. When the captives were allowed to call home, the calls were placed on loudspeaker so the kidnappers could hear, and they were permitted to speak only in English. They were asked how much their families had raised. At one point, Philip said, his father told him he had ₦500,000. The kidnappers were angered because they wanted to hear of millions, not thousands, and he was severely beaten that day. When his father later mentioned N700,000, Philip feared what would happen if he repeated that figure. Asked what his father had said, he told them N1 million. Feeding was uncertain. The first day, they ate nothing. On later days, they received rice and beans and sometimes garri, he said. Meanwhile, families of the victims approached Benue Links Nig. Ltd. in the hope that the company would help secure their release. They were told that the DSS had advised the manager not to communicate with the kidnappers. According to the account, the DSS was not aware of anything, and neither was the Commissioner of Police. The families still had to find their own way forward. Some sold valuables and made painful sacrifices to raise the money. Philip said his father continued to plead and negotiate. On Monday, he told the kidnappers he had raised ₦1.5 million. By Tuesday, October 6, he had raised ₦1.7 million. The kidnappers asked him to make it ₦2 million so he could come and pay the ransom for Philip's release. Eventually, the families were instructed to gather whatever money they had and travel to Lokoja. They arrived on Wednesday, October 7, but because they were late, the kidnappers postponed the collection until the next day, Thursday, October 8. After reaching Lokoja, they were redirected to Okene, Kogi State. On Thursday, October 8, Philip said, the captives were moved from the wilderness around Okene to another location near where the ransom was to be paid. Five kidnappers, including their leader, went to collect the money, while three stayed behind to guard the captives. When the people bringing the ransom arrived, they were directed to the agreed location. The money was brought down from the vehicle, and they were instructed to drive the vehicle back toward the road, a considerable distance away. After confirming that everything was complete, the kidnappers called those guarding the captives and told them to bring them out because the matter had been settled. They were released. Philip said the head kidnapper gave each of them ₦2,000 and told them to leave quickly. They walked a long distance with the people who had brought the ransom before they reached the road and left the area. He said the first day of his abduction was frightening, and as a human being he did not know what would happen to him. But as the days passed, something changed. By Friday, October 2, he was holding on to God's Word. He found comfort in Psalm 23:4, recalling its words about walking through the valley of the shadow of death and fearing no evil because God is with him, with His rod and staff bringing comfort. Philip said he could not see what the future held or know how or when he would be freed, but he held on to the belief that God had not abandoned him. He chose to keep his faith alive amid uncertainty. Looking back, he said faith does not always mean understanding everything happening around you; sometimes it means holding on to God when circumstances give reason to lose hope. His trip to the NYSC orientation camp became a journey through one of the darkest experiences of his life, but he held on to God. When hope seemed lost, he said, God gave him hope. He said the valley did not have the final say, and he gave glory to God.