17-year-old Kogi kidnap victim regains freedom after family paid N60m ransom,
By Joseph Erunke
A 17-year-old secondary school student, Emmanuel Okonkwo, who was abducted alongside 14 other passengers by armed bandits in Kogi State, has regained his freedom after days in captivity.
Okonkwo was travelling from Lagos to Abuja on Sunday, November 9, 2025, to prepare for his West African Senior School Certificate Examination ,WAEC,when gunmen attacked their Andyliz Transport Company bus around the Kabba axis of the state. All 15 passengers were seized and forced into the forest.
According to family sources, the kidnappers placed individual ransom demands on each victim. While being moved deep into the bush, two passengers who became too weak to continue the forced trek were killed on the spot.
The bandits are said to be known to execute captives after seven days if ransom is not paid, a practice described as their “operational rule.”
Recounting his ordeal, Okonkwo said the victims were fed once daily with rice or beans cooked without salt and were made to drink dirty stream water in the forest.
He also narrated how the kidnappers repeatedly threatened to kill him.
“On three occasions, they cocked their guns to shoot Emmanuel,” a family member said. “One of them chased him around with a knife several times, and the blade almost cut his hand.”
The family added that security operatives in Kogi advised them early in the crisis to raise the ransom, warning that a rescue operation was unlikely.
After several days of tense negotiations, the abductors initially demanded N80 million but later reduced the ransom to N60 million for all the victims. They gave the families a seven-day deadline to pay or risk losing their loved ones.
The bandits also issued strict conditions: the ransom had to be delivered in six bags, each containing ₦10 million in N1,000 notes, and transported using the same company bus that was attacked. “They insisted that only one person should bring the money. One of the company’s drivers carried out the delivery,” the source said.
Throughout the negotiation period, the kidnappers continually relocated the victims across several locations, including Obeiba Ihima; Ikowa Road near Transformer, Kabba; Okebuku-Bunu; and behind NTA Tower, Kabba-Ayetoro Road, Okegbo.
Following the payment, Okonkwo and the surviving passengers were released.
Families of other victims have expressed relief but renewed calls for the Federal Government to strengthen security along major highways in Kogi State, which has become a hotspot for kidnapping.
The post 17-year-old Kogi kidnap victim regains freedom after family paid N60m ransom appeared first on Vanguard News.
,
A 17-year-old secondary school student, Emmanuel Okonkwo, who was abducted alongside 14 other passengers by armed bandits in Kogi State, has regained his freedom after days in captivity.
The post 17-year-old Kogi kidnap victim regains freedom after family paid N60m ransom appeared first on Vanguard News.
, , Akinbayo Wahab, {authorlink},, , Vanguard News, November 19, 2025, 11:42 pm
