A prospective NYSC member abducted in Imo State has narrated how she and other victims were subjected to beatings and threats and forced to survive on garri and dirty water while held captive in a forest.

“We are given a phone to call our family, and if any family say anything they don’t want to hear or any rubbish that would make them angry, we will be beaten,” she said.

“That person will be beaten, used the gun, wood. Sometimes they use their hands to punch them, mostly the guys.”

Recounting how the abduction occurred, the victim said their bus departed at about 9 a.m. and made several stops along the way.

According to her, the driver eventually stopped at a location considered dangerous for onward travel and advised the passengers to rest before continuing their journey.

The victim said she contacted her family to inform them that they would spend the night at a public place before going to sleep.

However, she said she woke up to find herself in the kidnappers’ custody, with no clear understanding of how they had been taken into the forest.

“When I woke up, that was when the incident happened. I don’t know how we got to the forest where we were kept for some time,” she said.

She disclosed that they were subsequently taken deeper into the forest, where their captors provided them with little food and dirty water.

“What we are eating there is just garri. Like Igbo garri, dry garri with mud water. Very dirty water,” she said.

“I can’t even give my enemy that water. We don’t have a choice, we have to take it for survival.”

She described the psychological toll of the experience, saying she struggled to comprehend what was happening to her.

“I can’t explain how I felt. I can’t even cry, I was just looking, I was lost. I don’t know what to do,” she said.

“It felt like it was a movie. I don’t believe that this is happening to me.”

The victim added that she had not expected to survive the ordeal, describing the experience as something that felt unreal.

“I don’t believe that I will be living there on that day, because everything just felt like it was some drama,” she said.

She credited security personnel, including staff of the Department of State Services, with securing their release.

“The government, the DSS staff, we were rescued by them,” she said.

The 20 prospective corps members and another passenger were abducted on October 1, 2026, when gunmen attacked two buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Road near Umunoha in Imo State. 

According to reports, the victims were travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their respective NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

They regained their freedom on October 7 following a coordinated operation involving security agencies and were taken to a DSS medical facility in Owerri for medical attention.

Watch the interview below: