Gunmen kidnapped eight National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members on Saturday along a highway in Zamfara State in Nigeria’s North-West geopolitical zone.

The corps members were travelling from Uyo in Akwa Ibom State to Sokoto State to report for their mandatory national service when the gunmen intercepted their bus along a highway in Zamfara. 

An anonymous source confirmed the incident, stating that the corps members were 11, but three managed to escape from the kidnappers, according to Premium Times.

The source also confirmed that the bus driver was abducted alongside the eight corps members. 

“The corps members were offloaded (from the bus) and taken into the bush,” he said. “The police have recovered the bus.”

“They left here (Uyo) on Friday and slept over in Abuja. It was when they were proceeding to Sokoto that they were kidnapped,” the source said. 

At about 9:14 a.m. on Sunday, a Facebook user, Malachy Blessed, revealed the identity of one of the abducted corps members as Emmanuel Esudue, an agricultural and environmental engineering graduate from Akwa Ibom State University. 

He said the phone number of the corps member has been unreachable since Thursday. 

Another victim of the incident was identified as Betty Udofia. 

A Facebook user, Edidiong Charles, posted that the kidnappers have contacted Betty Udofia’s parents, demanding N4 million ransom. 

Efforts to get an official comment from the NYSC spokesperson, Eddy Megwa, proved abortive as he did not respond to his calls. 

Also, the police spokesperson in Zamfara, Yazid Abubakar, when contacted, said he was going to verify the incident and revert.