Former corps members from Akwa Ibom State who were kidnapped in Zamfara last year while on their way to Sokoto for their national service have shared their horrific experiences. These ex-corps members, who spent between two months to one year in captivity, revealed that they had to eat leaves and drink flood water to survive.
One of the abducted ex-corps members, Solomon Bassey Daniel, who was held for a year, described his ordeal. He said, “I went through a lot. I chewed leaves to survive and drank extremely dirty water. I was tortured daily from morning until evening. I could not defecate or urinate for three months. I thought I was going to die,” Daniel recounted. He was considered the “most stubborn” because he refused to agree to the kidnappers’ ransom demands since his parents could not afford it.
Another ex-corps member, Miss Victoria Bassey, also shared her experience, saying, “I never believed I could survive under such terrible conditions. Even during our menstrual periods, we couldn’t bathe. We drank flood water to stay alive.” Etim Bassey, another of the eight abducted corps members, recalled that their bus was intercepted at a bad spot in Zamfara, which they initially mistook for a checkpoint.
The rescued corps members expressed their gratitude to President Bola Tinubu, Director-General of NYSC General Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed, Governor Umo Eno, security operatives, and other well-meaning Nigerians for their efforts in securing their freedom. They also appealed for employment opportunities and any form of assistance to help heal their trauma.
The Founder and President of the NGO, Open Forum Care for Humanity Foundation, Mr. Matthew Koffi Okono (MKO), supported their call for job opportunities. He urged the government to help ease their post-traumatic experience and advocated for reforms in the NYSC scheme to make it more pro-development and safer. Okono called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to formally receive the rescued graduates and offer them automatic employment in the state civil service.
