Bandits in Zamfara State have evaded the telecommunication blackout in many area of the state to reach out to families two prospective corps members who were abducted enroute to the National Youth Service orientation camp in Kebbi and Sokoto states.
According to reports gathered, the kidnappers had demanded N2m ransom for each of the victims, Jennifer Iorliam andJoseph Aondona, as well as two other commuters who were kidnapped alongside them.
 Reports revealed that the victims boarded a bus from Benue State to Sokoto State on Tuesday, before they were intercepted around Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
It also stated that the driver of the bus and some passengers were said to have escaped and reported the incident at police stations in Zamfara and Benue states.
According to the older sister of 29-year-old Iorliam, Judith Benson on Thursday, the kidnappers had reached out to the family and demanded a N2m ransom.
She said the kidnappers revealed that they moved to Gusau where the mobile network ban had been lifted to make calls and vowed to return the victims to the forest if the ransom was not paid on time.
Benson stated, “The bandits have contacted us. They called my mother’s line and allowed my sister to talk to us. They kidnapped four Benue people together with my sister and another corps member named Joseph. The first time they called us, they demanded N3m. After we begged them, they reduced it to N2m. They said they would collect N2m for each of them.
“they told us they would wait somewhere in Gusau where there is network till tomorrow (Friday) and if they didn’t hear from us they would take them back to the bush. They said they wanted cash and that one person should bring the ransom to Gusau.
“My sister and Joseph were going to the orientation camp in Kebbi State. They boarded a bus to Sokoto from where they would take another bus to Kebbi. They were kidnapped around Tsafe Local Government in Zamfara on Tuesday.”
Benson said that she and her widowed mum were curious when they could not get Iorliam on the phone, adding that the mother had been in distress since the kidnappers called them on the phone.
She said, “The driver that escaped said he reported to the police in Zamfara and Benue states. We don’t know how to get the money they are asking for. Our dad is dead and our mum is a poor widow.”
The Police Public Relations Officer in Zamfara State, SP Muhammed Sheu, has not responded to calls or text messages about the incident.