Arraignment of Imo NYSC kidnap suspects

The arraignment of five suspected kidnappers by the Department of State Services (DSS) at the Imo State High Court, Owerri, offers Nigerians partial relief after the terrifying abduction of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members travelling from Ibadan to their orientation camps. But relief must not be mistaken for closure. With eight other alleged participants reportedly still at large, the operation remains unfinished.

The victims were abducted at gunpoint on October 1 along the Onitsha–Mgbidi–Owerri Expressway, near Umunoha in Mbaitoli Local Government Area. Armed men reportedly seized them and took them into the forest. Their release on October 7 was initially presented by the police as the outcome of security pressure. However, subsequent testimony by DSS investigating officer Ikem Emmanuel has raised disturbing questions about ransom payments and the precise circumstances of their freedom.

The witness told the court that ransom was paid, collected and shared among members of the gang, who subsequently went their separate ways. This account complicates the earlier official narrative that security operations forced the kidnappers to release their captives. The public deserves a full reconciliation of these accounts, including how much was paid, who negotiated the transaction, who received the money and whether any families were reimbursed.

Three defendants, Usman Aliyu, also known as Chonge; Babangida Aliyu; and Mohammed Ali, alias Smallie Pepper, were arrested in Rivers and Abia states, paraded and subsequently identified by their victims. The prosecution alleges that they participated in the NYSC abduction. Two other defendants, Aminu Haliru and Tange Ibrahim, also known as Jiji, face a separate case involving the alleged kidnapping of four people.

All five pleaded not guilty. More alarming is the prosecution witness’s account that 11 people participated in the NYSC kidnapping. If eight remain at large, the manhunt must intensify immediately. Investigating teams should be expanded, intelligence-sharing strengthened and financial investigations pursued to recover ransom proceeds. The arrested suspects must be interrogated to disclose their escaped associates’ identities, hideouts and movements.

Every delay gives fugitives opportunities to regroup, acquire weapons and finance further kidnappings across the South-East, South-South and beyond. We commend the DSS, police and other security personnel for the arrests and investigative work that brought the case before the court. Nevertheless, commendation cannot erase the initial failure to prevent armed criminals from committing the crime.

Pursuing kidnappers after the horse has bolted is necessary, but preventing the breach is better. Governors must therefore strengthen intelligence networks, police cooperation, forest surveillance and community security, especially in ungoverned spaces where criminal camps flourish. They must not leave this responsibility to Abuja alone. Security is a collective duty requiring federal, state and local authorities, traditional institutions and citizens to cooperate.

Justice demands more than arraigning five suspects. Capture the remaining eight, dismantle the gang’s financial networks and prevent another tragedy.